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City Council redistricting map arises anger, controversy among civic leaders 1

 

Woodhaven, which had been united in one district is the first draft of redistricting, is divided again at Forest Parkway and 80th Street, with much of the neighborhood moving into a different district.

  

 

Posted: Thursday, November 29, 2012 10:30 am

The latest draft of new City Council district maps that may be the final lines for the next decade, should they be approved, are raising eyebrows, and tempers.

The new maps are the final drafts proposed by the NYC Districting Commission and have been submitted to the City Council, which can approve or reject the proposal by Dec. 7. If no action is taken by the council, the maps are deemed approved.

But pressure is mounting from across the borough — and the city as a whole — for the council to reject the maps and force the NYC Districting Commission back to the drawing board.

The new maps make some key changes from the first draft, notably uniting communities like Maspeth, LeFrak City and Cambria Heights, that had been split under the first draft, while dividing other communities such as Woodhaven, North Flushing and Fresh Meadows, that were united. Some neighborhoods, such as Briarwood, are completely upended and moved into a different district.

The new maps were met with stiff opposition from interest groups and civic leaders, who say the commission did not take communities and demographics into considering when drawing the draft maps.

The Asian American Community Coalition on Redistricting and Democracy is among those blasting the commission’s final draft.

ACCORD criticized a number of the commission’s decisions, including keeping Oakland Gardens and Bayside in two separate districts. Much of Bayside north of Northern Boulevard remains in District 19, while Oakland Gardens is in the 23rd District.

“The residents of Oakland Gardens often identify themselves as living in Bayside,” said James Hong, ACCORD’s representative at the Oct. 10 Queens hearing of the NYC Districting Commission.

But the unification of Bayside and Oakland Gardens was opposed by one of the commission members — former state Sen. Frank Padavan — who represented Bayside in Albany for over 30 years.

The main argument against its unification are the different demographics between the two sections of the neighborhood. Oakland Gardens is mainly a middle-class Jewish and Asian area where most residents live inapartments or condominiums, while Bayside is mostly a white, Christian area, but with a large Asian-American population who live mostly in detached one- and two-family homes.

The MinKwon Center for Community Action, a Flushing-based Asian-American advocacy organization working with ACCORD, slammed the rationale and asked for the City Council to reject the maps.

“Anyone attending the Queens public hearings knew that the community fully supported a united Bayside, with Oakland Gardens as part of it,” said Steven Choi, executive director of the MinKwon Center. “We call on the City Council to take responsibility: the Commission has failed the people of New York City and so the City Council needs to act.”

ACCORD did say it approved of the unification of Elmhurst, home to a growing Asian-American population, into one district.

One of the neighborhoods most affected by the new draft map is Woodhaven, which was completely united into a district represented by Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village) in the first draft of the map. Now, it is divided again, roughly at Forest Parkway, with the west side moving into Crowley’s district and the east side into the district of Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park).

Under the existing map, drawn after the 2000 Census, the western side of Woodhaven is represented by Ulrich and the eastern side with Richmond Hill is in Crowley’s.

Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association President Ed Wendell is urging the Woodhaven’s two council members to reject the proposal when it comes before a vote in the City Council.

“This is an opportunity for City Council Members — both our current representatives, as well as those who might want Woodhaven’s support in the future — to show whether they actually care about our community,” he said in a statement.

A number of changes were made to District 28, represented by Councilman Ruben Wills (D-South Jamaica). Though Rochdale Village remains in the district, the western border is moved from Lefferts Boulevard to 103rd Street in Ozone Park, uniting all of South Richmond Hill in the district and forcing the elimination of portions of South Jamaica and Springfield Gardens.

But Vishnu Mahadeo, president of the Richmond Hill South Economic Development Council, said the commission was discussing an alteration to the maps with the border between the districts being at 112th Street, dividing South Richmond Hill again.

Mahadeo said the goal was to eliminate the Lefferts boundary and unite the neighborhood. Although the new maps do that, the proposal does not go far enough to unite the community.

“It’s a small investment in the Richmond Hill area, they haven’t done much,” he said. “It means that Richmond Hill has been dealt a bad hand yet again.”

He noted that Ulrich, who represents the western half of the neighborhood has been far more responsive to their needs than Wills because Richmond Hill does not have the political clout to challenge him.

Mahadeo said the maps also continue to divide the community from Richmond Hill north of Atlantic Avenue, further diluting the community’s influence. That, he warned, often leads to low voter turnout.

“It takes away the opportunity for the community to get a proper response,” he said. “If you don’t vote as a whole, what will happen is that community will lose out. People are not going to be motivated to come out and vote when they are fragmented.”

The maps also divide South Ozone Park at Lefferts Boulevard, which is unchanged from the previous decade.

“The large Asian American community in South Ozone Park continues to be split in half along Lefferts Boulevard between Districts 28 and 32,” said Richard Davis, executive director of the Indo-Caribbean Alliance. “While the changes in Richmond Hill are promising, our community’s advancement will be significantly constrained due to the division of South Ozone Park.”

The maps have also caused a stir among residents of North Flushing, who question why the border between the 19th and 20th districts, which had previously been north of the Mitchell-Linden complex and now runs along 33rd Avenue. Some have asked why 33rd Avenue — a mostly residential side street — was used as the district border, rather than the larger Northern Boulevard a few blocks south which provides a barrier between North Flushing and the more densely populated, homogeneously Asian-American part south of Northern Boulevard.

The maps have also drawn accusations of incumbent protection, which sparked up after the commission’s executive director, Carl Hum, said incumbents and their relationships to constituents were taken as a “legitimate concern” by the drawing body.

“If relationships matter, why did they basically switch the parts of Woodhaven Elizabeth Crowley and Eric Ulrich represent?” asked WRBA spokesman and Community Board 9 member Alexander Blenkinsopp.

Another Queens member of the commission is Tom Ognibene, a former councilman who held Crowley’s seat and served as minority leader and is a political ally of Ulrich.

Though some have accused the commission of being politically motivated while drawing the maps, Council Speaker Christine Quinn, a likely mayoral candidate next year, has denied those claims.

The council has until Dec. 7 to approve or reject the maps, or do nothing, which will automatically make them law.

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There is some background information.

 

Source the Queens Forum Press

 

PRELIMINARY CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT MAP RELEASED

 

The preliminary City Council map for Queens that the districting commission revealed earlier this month. Photo courtesy of the NYC Districting Commission.

After a series of public hearings and meetings, The New York City Districting Commission released its preliminary City Council maps. Although most districts remained the same overall, changes were made, having an effect on a few communities.

The biggest change in south Queens is the city council representation of Woodhaven and Richmond Hill.

Under the proposed map, Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park) would lose a large portion of the Woodhaven currently in his district
and subsequently add more parts of Richmond Hill to the 32nd District.

Picking up what Ulrich would be losing is Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village). Richmond Hill would then be split between Ulrich and Councilman Ruben Wills (D-Jamaica). Currently, that same sector is divided in four ways between Ulrich, Crowley,
Wills and Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz (D-Forest Hills).

Before the proposed map was released, some Queens residents at the borough’s public meeting on August 21, expressed their hope for a change in the way the lines are drawn in the new map.

Vishnu Mahadeo, president of the Richmond Hill Economic Development Council (RHEDC), called for Richmond Hill, Ozone Park and South Ozone Park to be under one council district.

He said that the way current lines split those communities results in too many districts and dilutes effective representation, specifically referring to the Indo-Caribbean community. Mahadeo says there are about 50,000 people from that community living in those three
neighborhoods combined who come from either Guyana ,Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname.

“This willful splitting of communities of common interest has created a system of disenfranchisement for the indo Caribbean community as their votes are less effective or ineffective,” Mahadeo said in a written testimony submitted to the commission.

Both Albert Baldeo, president of the United Communities Alliance, and James Hong from the Asian-American Community Coalition on Redistricting &Democracy echoed Mahadeo’s sentiments for uniting those three areas.

Mahadeo recommended to the commission that the boundaries for this district should be set at Jamaica/Hillside avenues to the north,
the Belt Parkway to the south, the Van Wyck Expressway to the east and Woodhaven Boulevard to the west.

The next step in the redistricting process is to hold more public hearings that will be based off of the map that was released two weeks ago.

“There are many more views that need to be shared … given the significance of redrawing these lines for the next ten years,” said Benito Romano, chairman of the redistricting commission. “We encourage the public to participate.”

The meetings are scheduled to take place between October 2 and October 11, with each borough having its own meeting, giving residents a chance to speak their mind about proposals for the areas they live in.

The Queens public hearing is set for Wednesday, October 10 at LaGuardia Community College. The address is 31-10 Thomson Avenue in Long Island City. It is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m and end at 9 o’clock.

By Luis Gronda

Vish M

I am in no way an expert on Richmond Hill politics. Hence my reason for commenting on Guyana's. However, this issue is an extremely important one that will determine the well being of Indo-Caribbean citizens in that area. The community will need to elect credible leaders. But first you have to get the boundaries right. Perhaps there needs to be alliances with other groups, especially the new immigrant groups in the area. My hunch is the Jagdeoites PPP have corrupted even the Richmond Hill leaders. To some extent Richmond Hill politics is connected to Guyana's. Look how the property of the PPP has been handed over to a Richmond Hill business person who in turn has tremendous coverage in the area. Ask Pavi.  

FM

Nehru got a bit carried away but he is quite harmless.

 

 

This ReDistricting is a critical issue for many minority communities. The outcome will decide who the political leaders will be in many City Council Districts in NYC.

 

If, for instance that the City Council District 28, is inclusive of all of Richmond Hill and South Ozone Park then an Indo Caribbean Person could be the next NYC Councilman in District 28.

 

Vish M

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