Submissions

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• Amy
  February 14, 2023
  My name is Amy Holderness. I reside in Windsor Terrace 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. My only thought as to why this would happen is that developers have infiltrated and want to re-zone the area for development - something like 4th avenue in Park Slope. Windsor Terrace / Kensington cannot sustain an influx of this kind of development. I ask that you make Green-Wood Cemetery along 20th Street the western border of the 44th AD, not the Prospect Expressway as in the draft plan, and Green-Wood 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. The proposed plan dilutes the ability of vital neighborhood institutions to advocate on behalf of their respective constituents. Or is this the point? Please keep Windsor Terrace and Kensington intact. Find another neighborhood to develop. Thank you, Amy Holderness
  
• Jeff
  February 14, 2023
  I have lived in the Financial District, at 55 Wall Street, for eight years since moving here from San Francisco. My day-to-day life is spent in FiDi and Battery Park City. I’ve been to Staten Island only once. I support the redistricting of District 65: our representation should reflect our communities. My community is in Lower Manhattan. Respectfully submitted, Jeff Sidell, Ph.D Chief Technology Officer, Advarra
  
• Kevin
  February 14, 2023
  View File
  Keep Greenpoint Whole The draft redistricting of Assembly District 50 undermines a resilient Greenpoint community that has been unfairly divided for generations. The Robert Moses-era McGuinness Boulevard has divided the Greenpoint community since it was first constructed to send cars and pollution through a previously quiet and closely-knit neighborhood. This infamous and dangerous road is now taking on an egregious new meaning by splitting the representative might of a community and dismantling our representative democracy. As the IRC mulls over the map, they must consider the communities that are comprised of the districts. The current Assembly District 50 is comprised of Williamsburg and Greenpoint. The community has historical industrial roots and in recent decades has become an environmental justice advocacy community. Williamsburg’s and Greenpoint’s industrial pasts have united the community, bonded by immigrant communities of Polish, Italian, Jewish laborers. The Williamsburg and Greenpoint communities, despite the massive Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and its arteries that bisect the neighborhood, stand united—united by traffic violence, noise pollution, asthma, and toxicity. Very fortunately, our community, is represented by trailblazers that live in the same neighborhood and breathe the same air. As the impacts of climate change become more apparent in our everyday lives and as we as a city seek to break our hold from car-culture, it is imperative that Greenpointers are represented by representatives who are going to adequately represent us. Our current Assemblymember is the best person to do that, not the Assemblymember from the 38th district. Lastly, Greenpoint is Queens, it is not Glendale, and it certainly is not Rego Park. Greenpoint is Brooklyn, it is not used-to-be-Brooklyn Ridgewood. Keep Greenpoint Whole please. Thank you, Kevin Costa 159 Russell St, 2 Brooklyn, NY 11222
  
• Anthony
  February 13, 2023
  Do not break up Yorktown, Somers and Eastern Putnam in Assembly District 94. Preserve the core of the existing Assembly District 94 and revise the initial draft so as to keep Carmel and Mahopac whole and preserve the existing community of interest connecting the northern Westchester towns of Yorktown and Somers with the Town of Carmel and the rest of eastern Putnam County.
  
• Allysen
  February 13, 2023
  Please do not redistrict Windsor Terrace. We are very loyal to Robert Carroll and worked to get him elected. The lack of proximity to Sunset Park and Red Hook makes little sense and will render us an insignificant minority in our district. There must be another way.
  
• JAMES
  February 13, 2023
  View File
  Use the existing map which expresses the community sentiment as wells this map.
  
• Nick
  February 13, 2023
  Hello, I wanted to advocate against the proposed re-zoning of the Windsor terrace neighborhood. As a resident of the neighborhood, I share the concern of many of my neighbors about breaking up the district, changing the school district zoning, and moving our representation in the state assembly to a lawmaker whose constituents are primarily in other neighborhoods. It does not make sense to change the school zoning and assembly representation for a sliver of a larger neighborhood. We still share the same neighborhood and municipal concerns as the rest of Windsor Terrace; why shouldn’t we share the same representation in the assembly?
  
• Erica
  February 13, 2023
  As a Windsor Terrace resident, I share my neighbors concerns about the redistricting plan that removes us from the rest of the Windsor Terrace neighborhood and it’s school districts. It seems that districts work well when they border one another, sharing common landmarks, transportation lines, and when school districts are local, allowing ease for families who travel to work. Removing such a small part of Windsor Terrace from the rest of it will change our ability to be meaningfully represented within and to participate in the community where we live.
  
• Lauren
  February 13, 2023
  This is Lauren Thompson. My husband and son have lived in Windsor Terrace for 20 years. My opinion is that it is an injustice to redistrict Windsor Terrace and Kensington into different districts. Windsor Terrace is one neighborhood, with a contiguous set of concerns, even though a submerged expressway cuts the neighborhood in two. People move from one side to the other every day, sometimes several times a day, to bring children to school, to shop, to visit, and to attend worship services and community meetings. If WT is sectioned into different districts, it will lose its voice. WT and Kensington are distinct from Park Slope and from Sunset Park. We deserve to have representation that hears our voice. Thank you.
  
• Katie
  February 13, 2023
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• Lauren
  February 13, 2023
  Hi, I oppose the plan to redistrict Windsor Terrace and the plan to redraw the lines to separate a small part of WT and Kensington from AD 44 to AD 51. We are a strong and organized community with shared interests and a strong sense of community and accountability to each other. Putting parts of our district with Red Hook and Sunset Park does not make sense. Thanks, Lauren Elfant
  
• Rebecca
  February 13, 2023
  To whom it may concern: I am unable to attend the public hearing this week but I wanted to register my objection to the redistricting of my slice of the 44th AD into the 51st AD. I have lived in Windsor Terrace since 2010, when I moved to McDonald Ave and Ft Hamilton Pkwy. This summer I moved 4 blocks away to Ocean Pkwy and Caton Ave. It makes no sense to me to prioritize connecting the neighborhoods directly adjacent to Green-Wood Cemetery into AD 51 if that means splitting up the Kensington-Windsor Terrace neighborhood. My closest subway stop, the Ft. Hamilton F/G, has exits on either side of the Prospect Park Expressway, so this redistricting would split that single subway station in half. The cemetery is a beautiful and historic place but it isn't what brings us together—it is what keeps us apart. Similar to how it is hard to get from my neighborhood to Sunset Park and Red Hook, I believe it would be hard to incorporate and balance the needs of our small sliver of Kensington-Windsor Terrace within AD 51. I am respectfully asking the Commission to keep the boundary for AD 44 as it is along the cemetery (20th St to McDonald Ave to Ft Hamilton Pkwy). I hope that the Commission will consider visiting our little pocket neighborhood—it would make it even easier to see that this proposed new map needs to be adjusted (and you can stop by the cemetery which is very cool). Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Rebecca Schoenberg-Jones
  
• Debbie
  February 13, 2023
  Please keep Windsor Terrace in tact. It makes no sense to tear up the neighborhood. The proposed re-drawing lines make no sense. This is a very tight community. We need each other. Please use common sense. Thank you.
  
• Linda
  February 13, 2023
  To the Honorable Members of the Independent Redistricting Commission. This testimony is on the proposed redistricting of AD52. My name is Linda LaViolette, I have lived in the Carroll Gardens/ Gowanus Canal neighborhood for 50 years. My husband John and I raised our family here, my son and his family live several blocks away and my grandson goes to school 1 ½ blocks away from where I live at PS 32. During the past 50 years I have started and operated local businesses in the area and remain an active member of my community. I have witnessed how our neighborhood has changed and welcome those changes. I love living here. I love my neighborhood and appreciate the collaboration that takes place between my friends and neighbors. I am opposed to the proposed redistricting of the AD 52. As a resident and community activist serving on multiple organizations, I believe the proposed redistricting would divide our community. Splitting the AD 52 into two districts would be a huge disservice and dilute the historical knowledge and traditional bonds between Carroll Gardens and the Gowanus community. Our voices as citizens would be disrupted by the proposed redistricting. It would make it more difficult for us to pursue a unified policy that serves our residents. This ill-advised and unwanted redistricting would be requiring citizens and organizations to invest twice as much effort by requiring us to communicate to multiple representatives on critical important policy issues that affect our lives. Splitting Carroll Gardens and Gowanus into two districts divides our community and will dilute our common concerns and issues. It destroys common boundaries and community alliances, it disrupts our shared historical narrative, as the site of the Battle of Long Island where a pitched battle was fought along the shore of the Gowanus Canal during the Revolutionary War. This history connects our community. The English Red Coats couldn’t divide us, why would the Independent Redistricting Commission? This redistricting ignores the multiple connections between the East and West side of the Gowanus Canal, divides our artistic community and the festivals that join our community like “Gowanus Arts”. But the most worrisome aspect concerns the division of representation as it affects the Gowanus Super Fund site. The AD52 contains the 2 of the 3 Gowanus Superfund Sites. Recent data has suggested that the pollution from 3 of the former Manufactured Gas Plants may have Coal Tar Plumes that have merged and moved with the hydrology under our homes. This represents a serious and potentially dangerous development because we realize that the industrial toxins have moved from the industrial zone into our residential areas, moving under the Gowanus Canal across Smith Street under our homes. The upland sites around the Gowanus Canal and Thomas Green Park are virtually all contained in the present AD52. Dividing the AD52 will not help us restore and remediate this pollution but undermine our efforts. We need one knowledgeable and consistent voice representing us in Albany. One Assembly Representative. The proposed redistricting will make it more difficult to maintain a common policy if the community is split into two different districts. Our neighborhood faces many challenges, and our residents benefit from having one continuous representative who understands our problems and is an engaged and experienced representative. Please do not change the district lined it does not provide better representation for our people or community. Thank you. Linda LaViolette
  
• Aimee
  February 13, 2023
  I do not agree with the redistricting of the area I live in in Windsor terrace. I live on mcdonald Ave across from the cemetery. Please leave it the way it is. It is not fair to do this to us. Our area has nothing to do with the areas you want us to be redistricted with. We will never have a chance to get the projects needed to get done in our area. It is fine the way it is. Stop trying to change things that don’t need to be fixed. Focus on the bigger problems like the rise in crimes etc…. It sounds like the people that want these changes have nothing better to do and don’t have a clue about the area we live in.