In 2016, thousands of Asian-Americans protested City Hall’s handling of the case involving Peter Liang, a rookie Chinese-American police officer who was convicted of manslaughter in the death of an unarmed black man, Akai Gurley, who was hit by a ricocheting bullet fired from the officer’s gun. Mr. Liang, they argued, was a scapegoat to placate a black community angered by the death of Eric Garner and other fatalities where the officers involved, most of them white, had gone unpunished.

More recently, Mr. de Blasio targeted electric bicycles, citing safety concerns and the complaints of residents who say they are dangerous. Yet e-bikes are crucial to the livelihood of immigrant delivery workers, many of whom live below the poverty line.

“We’ve been advocating to get these bikes legalized, and suddenly the mayor decided to say, ‘Oh, we’re going to crack down even more?’ ” said City Councilwoman Margaret Chin, who represents Lower Manhattan. “Hey, did you talk to us?”

But it was Mr. de Blasio’s proposal to tackle the vexing issue of segregation at the specialized high schools that galvanized Asian reaction. The eight schools, which have a single test for admissions, have a disproportionate number of Asian students, and few black and Latino ones. Mr. de Blasio has proposed throwing out the test and instead admitting students based on their class rank and state test scores, which would increase the numbers of black and Latino students significantly. Because the number of seats at the schools are limited, that would necessarily mean fewer Asian students would get in. Changing the admissions method would require an act of the Legislature for the three long-established specialized schools, and perhaps for all of them.

But in announcing the plan Mr. de Blasio did not mention the schools’ importance to Asian-Americans. Despite stereotypes about their success, Asian-Americans are the poorest immigrant group in the city, noted Joseph P. Viteritti, a professor of public policy at Hunter College, and many view the schools as a ladder to the middle class, and the test as the fairest way to determine admission. A report released last month by the Asian-American Federation, a network of community service groups, found that nine in 10 Asian households in poverty lack affordable housing, and one-quarter of those eligible to work did not have health insurance.