Submissions

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• Bronwyn
  February 15, 2023
  AD50 is ONE neighborhood of North Brooklyn. We have deep roots on both sides of McGuinness Boulevard, with longstanding coalitions working together to confront complex climate concerns and complex cleanups of toxic superfund sites. Tearing this community apart across a false dividing line would undermine the decades of work that have gone into resolving our complex and very North Brooklyn specific issues. I am an architect, 18 year resident, parent of two PS110 students, local activist and community member. Please heed the calls of the 100s of engaged residents of AD50 to keep North Brooklyn whole.
  
• Joshua
  February 15, 2023
  Windsor Terrace/Kensington Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak today. My name is Joshua Rosenthal. I reside in Windsor Terrace/ Kensington and am speaking on behalf of myself and my community. My comments will focus on your plan for the 44th Assembly District and specifically your decision to place portions of the neighborhoods of Windsor Terrace and Kensington in two different Assembly Districts, the 44th and the 51st. We believe both neighborhoods should be wholly within the 44th AD as they have been historically. Your decision to put portions of both Windsor Terrace and Kensington into different Assembly Districts makes both impacted ADs less compact and contiguous and also divides two long established and discrete communities with common interests, demographics and a history of positive civic activism. Simply stated it is contrary to many of the bedrock principles which should guide fair redistricting and good government. Specifically we ask that you make Greenwood Cemetery along 20th Street the western border of the 44th AD not the Prospect Expressway as in the draft plan, and Greenwood Cemetery along McDonald Avenue and Fort Hamilton Parkway out to 39th Street the Northern boundary between the 44th and 51st ADs. This is a shift of only a few blocks but makes complete sense geographically. Without this change the portions of Kensington and Windsor Terrace cut out of the 44th AD will be a small after thought in the 51st AD divided from that district by the hundreds of acres of Greenwood Cemetery. The 51st AD contains the entirety of the thriving neighborhood of Sunset Park and that neighborhood historically dominates that district. The inevitable result of the draft plan is that the few blocks of Windsor Terrace and Kensington attached to the vast bulk of Sunset Park will be underserved. The proposed plan also dilutes the ability of vital neighborhood institutions to advocate on behalf of their respective constituents. Multiple local Elementary Schools including PS 154, PS 130, PS 179 and PS 230, several local places of worship such as Immaculate Heart of Mary RC Church, The Flatbush Jewish Center, which despite its name is in Kensington, and the Darul Jannah Masjid and Masjid Nur Al-Islam will all see their catchment areas, now wholly within the 44th AD, divided between the 44th and the 51st AD. This is especially troublesome with respect to the Mosque’s which serve the growing South Asian community in Kensington and will now have to petition two different Assembly Members rather than having a single point of contact. Historically the entirety of the two discrete, cohesive and well defined neighborhoods of Kensington and Windsor Terrace have been in the same Assembly district. This is true since at least the reapportionment following the 1970 census. Indeed the phone number for the local Assembly District Office has remained unchanged since 1974 and many of my friends and neighbors have told me that they have it memorized or on their speed dial. This is not just an interesting but irrelevant tidbit, it is testimony to the fact that at least in Brooklyn the Assembly District is the smallest unit of government and traditionally the most responsive to local needs. In the 1950’s Robert Moses built the Prospect Expressway and inflicted a still obvious scar on Windsor Terrace and Kensington. The people of Windsor Terrace and Kensington banded together and protested Moses’ plan but unlike more affluent neighborhoods such as Brooklyn Heights and Greenwich Village they lost and the Prospect Expressway was built. Moses’ wound however drew the Windsor Terrace and Kensington communities closer together and over the following decades they jointly fought and defeated repeated ill advised rezoning proposals to first permit large scale manufacturing and then residential over development in these thriving working class neighborhoods. We ask that you not reopen the wound Robert Moses inflicted. Please make Greenwood Cemetery, not the Prospect Expressway the boundary between the 44th AD and the 51st AD. Please keep Windsor Terrace and Kensington intact. I take note that the IRC plan for the Assembly districts in Brooklyn has uniform district populations of 134-135,000 persons. By contrast, the current Brooklyn districts have populations ranging between 128,000 and 141,000. It is appropriate for the districts to be more balanced in population. Thank you for your time. Joshua Rosenthal
  
• Brianna
  February 15, 2023
  I am writing to strongly oppose the redistricting that will split up the community of Greenpoint and lump half of the neighborhood into a district with conflicting priorities.
  
• Andrew
  February 15, 2023
  View File
  Thank you for giving me the opportunity to address the proposed redistricting. My name is Andrew Danylchuk. I reside in Windsor Terrace and am writing on behalf of myself, my family and my community. My comments will focus on your plan for the 44th Assembly District and specifically your decision to place portions of our neighborhood of Windsor Terrace into two different Assembly Districts, the 44th and the 51st. We believe Windsor Terrace should be wholly within the 44th AD as it has been historically. We ask that you make Greenwood Cemetery along 20th Street the western border of the 44th AD not the Prospect Expressway as in the draft plan, and Greenwood Cemetery along McDonald Avenue and Fort Hamilton Parkway out to 39th Street the Northern boundary between the 44th and 51st ADs. This is a shift of only a few blocks but makes complete sense. Without this change the portion of Windsor Terrace cut out of the 44th AD will be a small after thought in the 51st AD divided from that district by the hundreds of acres of Greenwood Cemetery. The 51st AD contains the entirety of Sunset Park and that neighborhood historically dominates that district. The inevitable result of the draft plan is that the few blocks of Windsor Terrace attached to Sunset Park will be underserved. The proposed plan dilutes the ability of vital neighborhood institutions to advocate on behalf of their respective constituents. We share multiple local schools, several local places of worship, a subway station, an expressway that borders both sides of our neighborhood and shopping centers. We are wholly with in our police precinct, our community board and our congressional district. In the 1950’s Robert Moses built the Prospect Expressway that left a terrible scar on Windsor Terrace. Families were displaced, and houses of worship were torn down. The great scar could have left a neighborhood divided, but the people of Windsor Terrace banded together and became a stronger community. We petitioned to have more pedestrian bridges built across the expressway to re-unite our neighborhood. We have since fought many plans that were ill conceived such as rezoning proposals, DOT expressway projects, and numerous other concerns in our neighborhood. And we were successful, because despite our diversity, we are united within our community. We ask that you not reopen the wound Robert Moses inflicted. Please make Greenwood Cemetery, not the Prospect Expressway the boundary between the 44th AD and the 51st AD. Please keep Windsor Terrace and Kensington intact. To put it simply, the plan is contrary to many of the bedrock principles which should guide fair redistricting and good government. Thank you for your time. Respectfully, Andrew Danylchuk 50 East 5th St. Brooklyn, NY 11218
  
• Lydia
  February 15, 2023
  It makes no sense for Greenpoint to be split right down the middle. We are a tight community and we should have the same representation.
  
• Julie
  February 15, 2023
  Hello, As a long-time resident (since 2000) who raised a child in East Williamsburg/Greenpoint ADC50, I do not like the proposed district that bifurcates Greenpoint. I think to group Greenpoint with communities in QNs across the Super Fund site Newtown Creek will lead to less action by citizens to fight for cleanup of our multitude of Super Fund sites and Toxic Waste sites. This is an environmental justice issue. Greenpoint is a 'point' and geographically people living on this point interact every day. Creating a political dividing line doesn't work with citizen needs and neighborhoods. We, my family, cross McGuiness on foot multiple times a week from where we are at Jackson and Graham to McGolrick Park area for commercial business and recreation. To divide us politically from that neighborhood - after the hurdle that is McGuiness - is an extra punch in the gutt. I think that there are better ways to divide political zones than to cut a neighborhood in half and pair it with something across a body of water. Particularly, due to our environmental justice issues. We have spent years building activism and community and dividing seems frankly - cruel and unfair and will lead to potentially longer times for cleaning up toxic ground and water.
  
• Nicole
  February 15, 2023
  Hello Redistricting Committee, I'm writing to protest the split of Greenpoint, Brooklyn, into two separate electoral areas. Greenpoint, Brooklyn, is not Rego Park, Queens. Greenpointers have a different slate of concerns, lifestyles, and ways of working and living that are common to our neighbors in Williamsburg, Bed Stuy, Bushwick, and other parts of Brooklyn. Not Queens. Each borough in New York City has a distinct community, and by breaking apart Greenpoint, you're interfering with that sense of community and weakening a neighborhood of connected individuals. It's clear that whomever is doing this has spent no time in any of these neighborhoods and has no regard for public opinion or what makes New York great - it's sense of community and camaraderie, strengthened by shared sidewalks, parks, schools, delis, and local businesses, not arbitrarily drawn political lines.
  
• Jessica
  February 15, 2023
  Splitting Greenpoint in half does not make sense. We should not share a district with Queens when we have been part of Brooklyn since 1834. 1834. This will not allow us representation that is characteristic of the neighborhood, splitting our neighbors and our livelihoods in two. Please reconsider and redraft the plan into one that reflects common sense.
  
• Yehuda
  February 15, 2023
  View File
  Attached is a letter of opposition from Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein (41st A.D.). Yehuda Schupper Director of Communications Office of Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein NYS Assembly Ways and Means Committee 3520 Nostrand Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11229 (718) 648-4700 schuppy@nyassembly.gov
  
• Peter
  February 15, 2023
  View File
  Please see attached letter regarding the proposed redistricting plan. thank you, pete gomori Albemarle Neighborhood Association
  
• Katherine
  February 15, 2023
  View File
  Hello, This is updated testimony, Thank you, Katherine Thompson
  
• Sabine
  February 15, 2023
  View File
  The prime voters of Southeast Queens do not approve of these pending changes. As a community, we fought hard to organize our community and our votes.
  
• Katie
  February 15, 2023
  Please do not split Greenpoint up into 2 separate districts. This would be very damaging to our community.
  
• Kirstin
  February 15, 2023
  Hello—Under the proposed plan, Ridgewood would be split between the 38th and 53rd districts. Even worse, while Ridgewood is randomly cut up, it is also merged with other split neighborhoods, like portions of Glendale and Bushwick. All of Ridgewood should be included in district 38. Areas of Glendale and Bushwick can be removed to balance population size within the districts.the boundaries should be the train tracks and Cypress Ave.
  
• Nicole
  February 15, 2023
  Hello IRC, I am against the Redistricting of Greenpoint and splitting up our community. It is one neighborhood and should remain coordinated under the same district, for policies, voting, roadmap, and vision. There is no need to separate it and put part of it under the Queens district. Thank you, A concerned Greenpoint resident