New York State Independent Redistricting Commission

Mary
February 26, 2023
My name is Mary Somoza, and I have lived in Hell's Kitchen for 40 years. I am the President of the Tenant Association at Clinton Towers, a Mitchell-Lama rental located in the 67 Assembly district in the West 50s. The building has 396 apartments and roughly 900 adults eligible to vote, many who are elderly, disabled, and many working two jobs to stay afloat. I have been a community activist since moving here in 1983. I am also a disability activist having served as an appointee of the Governor's to the Advisory Council of the Office of People with Developmental Disabilities from 1991 to 2019. The Commission must reject the proposed draft of the 67 Assembly district. Going back to the 1992 district lines and up through the latest redistricting map, the 67 AD has run from Hell's Kitchen, beginning on West 41st Street through the Upper West Side in the West 90s. Residents on both the Upper West Side and Hell's Kitchen have become one community of interest, Many of the issues that I've seen impact my building and the surrounding areas are very similar, if not identical, to the problems facing the Upper West Side. We share many of the same bus lines, such as the M11, parks and social service agencies that aid tenants at Clinton Towers. The Commission is constitutionally required to keep communities of interests together. It must reject the proposed draft of the 67 Assembly district and return it to the lines that people have become accustomed to for the past 40+ years. While the State Senate and Council districts have rotated districts over the years, the State Assembly district has been constant. I would be interested in attending any meetings on this in our area and receiving emails from the Commission. I also have a large listserv of parents of children/young adults many of whom live in this area, I will forward the information to them.

Steven
February 25, 2023
Hello Committee: My name is Steven Barall and I have been a resident of Lincoln Towers, 160 West End Ave., for almost thirty years. One of the great features of being part of the West Side community is my proximity to Hell's Kitchen. Hell's Kitchen is like my living room. A lot of my friends either live there or own businesses there, and frankly, the issues I see on the Upper West Side are quite similar to the issues my friends see in Hell's Kitchen. We use the same buses and subways, the same parks and frequent the same restaurants. The best demonstration of this unity is that all together we in the 67th Assembly District turn out huge numbers of voters. Our votes are an expression of our shared values and goals. It is critical that the like-minded constituencies on the Upper West Side and Hell's Kitchen remain a community. The Commission must reject its proposed plan for the 67th Assembly District. The current lines of the 67 Assembly District should remain the same. Best regards, Steven Barall.

Frances
February 25, 2023
View File

Maria
February 24, 2023
Dear Commissioners, My name is Maria Guzman, and I have lived in Hell's Kitchen all my life. I am the President of the Tenants' Association at Harborview Terrace, a NYCHA development that is part of the greater Amsterdam Houses campus on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. For as long as I have lived here, the 67 Assembly district has encompassed the Upper West Side and Hell's Kitchen. We are one community, with very similar tenant populations, interests and needs. Our collective power stems from our ability to organize with our neighbors at Amsterdam Houses and Amsterdam Addition as well as the support of like-minded residents in the area. Residents of our NYCHA buildings frequent the same programs at arts and cultural institutions, and utilize many of the same social services programs available to our senior citizens and families. The residents at both Harborview Terrace, Amsterdam Houses and Amsterdam Houses Addition, have long worked together to organize campuswide events, programming for residents, as well as advocate for much-needed infrastructure upgrades. This Commission is constitutionally required to preserve communities of interest. Potentially dividing these three NYCHA developments would blunt the influence of public housing residents on the Upper West Side. I, along with my 600+ residents of Harborview Terrace, urge the Commission to reject the proposed draft plan for the 67 Assembly district and restore it to the lines it has held for many decades. Thank you, Maria Guzman

Maria
February 24, 2023
Dear Commissioners, My name is Maria Guzman, and I have lived in Hell's Kitchen all my life. I am the President of the Tenants' Association at Harborview Terrace, a NYCHA development that is part of the greater Amsterdam Houses campus on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. For as long as I have lived here, the 67 Assembly district has encompassed the Upper West Side and Hell's Kitchen. We are one community, with very similar tenant populations, interests and needs. Our collective power stems from our ability to organize with our neighbors at Amsterdam Houses and Amsterdam Addition as well as the support of like-minded residents in the area. Residents of our NYCHA buildings frequent the same programs at arts and cultural institutions, and utilize many of the same social services programs available to our senior citizens and families. The residents at both Harborview Terrace, Amsterdam Houses and Amsterdam Houses Addition, have long worked together to organize campuswide events, programming for residents, as well as advocate for much-needed infrastructure upgrades. This Commission is constitutionally required to preserve communities of interest. Potentially dividing these three NYCHA developments would blunt the influence of public housing residents on the Upper West Side. I, along with my 600+ residents of Harborview Terrace, urge the Commission to reject the proposed draft plan for the 67 Assembly district and restore it to the lines it has held for many decades.

Cesar
February 24, 2023
View File

Jeilyn
February 24, 2023
My name is Jeilyn Hernandez, and I have lived on the Upper West Side on West 89th Street for the past 14 years with my family. I attended the High School for Environmental Studies, which is located on West 56th Street in Hell's Kitchen. For as long as I can remember, the Upper West Side and Hell's Kitchen have always been one community. We share public transportation routes, schools, parks and social service organizations. The community concerns my neighbors and I have in the West 80s are very similar to the issues surrounding my former high school, as well as my classmates. This Commission is responsible for preserving the integrity of communities. It is inconceivable that the Commission would disrupt years of precedence and continuity. Keep the 67 Assembly District intact and reject the Draft Plan. The people who live here should not be disenfranchised by connecting them with dissimilar communities uptown.

Ken
February 23, 2023
I object to the redistricting as presented as it divides communities of like minded constituencies. This is seen most egregiously in Assembly District 50 in North Brooklyn, which would be split north/south and into totally different regional area in Queens, a totally different borough with a different issues and different constituencies with different needs. This is especially egregious considering that North Brooklyn and specifically Greenpoint is a disadvantaged community. Splitting it as proposed would adversely weaken this neighborhood in its ability to have its voice heard. It's taken many years to organize this community around quality of life issues and to divide it at this juncture could well silence residents as they will no longer be able to speak with one voice. Please cancel the proposed rezoning that would unfairly harm these residents fighting along so many fronts. This is one of the most polluted residential communities in the nation, to split it thusly, will condemn many to suffer the worst effects of environmental racism.

Robert R
February 23, 2023
View File

Bingjie
February 22, 2023
View File

David
February 22, 2023
Thank you for the opportunity to speak at your Buffalo hearing. As requested by a member of the committee I'm submitting online testimony for review in addition to what was said at the in person hearing. The committee has done a good job identifying communities on the Erie/Niagara county boarder that should be grouped together. Grand Island continues to be included in the Niagara county district and the Cities of Tonawanda in Erie County and North Tonawanda in Niagara County also continued to be grouped together. Ideally the Cities of Tonawanda and North Tonawanda would continue to be grouped with the Town of Tonawanda and North Buffalo while Amherst would be its own district, but I understand there are additional considerations that must be taken into account when the commission draws their maps that may not make that possible. With that said, In the context of the maps you've proposed it would be good to see the five block section that was drawn out of the Tonawanda/West Amherst district taken out of the 149th AD and placed into the 140th AD. This small change would actually bring both districts closer to the "ideal population" while allowing for the village of Kenmore to be kept in tact and completely grouped with the Town of Tonawanda. The Village of Kenmore and the Town of Tonawanda share significant social and economic resources, so much so that their municipal offices are actually located in the same building. The five block area bordered by Kenmore Ave to the South, Military ave to the West, Mang ave to the North and Elmwood ave to the East should be re-drawn into the 140th district. The Commission has also identified that Hamburg, Lackawanna and South Buffalo are socially and economically connected and should be drawn as a community of interest. While the LATFOR lines currently in place would be an ideal outcome, again working within the context of your proposal, I think there is room for a small change that would make big a big difference. The 141st Assembly district is a majority minority district that combine communities of interest across Buffalo's East side and that district should be preserved at all costs to ensure they continue to receive strong representation. A large portion of South Buffalo was added into the district by the commission, but with the 141st being nearly 2% over the ideal population and the 142nd that includes Hamburg, Lackawanna and South Buffalo is roughly 1.5% under the ideal population there is an opportunity for improvement. There are several districts near Cazenovia Park that could easily be shifted from the 141st to the 142nd that would allow for more balanced districts and better representation for everyone involved. These are two small changes that would allow for better representation without requiring significant changes to the maps currently proposed. I hope you will take these changes into consideration while drawing your final map.

Clark
February 22, 2023
View File

Nathan
February 21, 2023
The proposed plan to split District 50 down the middle is a mistake. Using McGuinness Blvd. as a dividing line feels like an attempt to remove the collective voice of the community and cause a literal split in our area's interests. We do not see McGolrick Park and anything west of McGuinness as a separate area, it is District 50. Keep it whole!

Joe
February 21, 2023
Please don’t split up Columbia County. This is one of the few places that has a healthy near 50/50 split of blue and red votes. This is something I am proud of in our decisive times.

Submissions

Public Comments Return to Archived Submissions Page