Submissions

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• Sara
  February 13, 2023
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• Shirley
  February 13, 2023
  The Independent Redistricting Commission has cut big portions of Windsor Terrace, Kensington, Park Slope, and Ditmas park out of the 44th Assembly District. But we are ONE community connected by schools, houses of worship, mass transit and parks. I don't want the interests of residents living between Caton Avenue and 8th Avenue, from McDonald Avenue to the Prospect Expressway, and residents living between Fort Hamilton Parkway and 15th Avenue, from Dahill Road to 39th Street to be represented - or underrepresented - by an Assemblymember whose main focus will, of necessity, be the huge number of constituents who live in Sunset Park and Red Hook. I don't want to lose having the rest of our neighborhood help us advocate with our Assemblymember when we need something done. This plan will put us in the same situation of underrepresentation as the small portion of Midwood that's within Community Board 12. Sunset Park and Red Hook residents can't be expected to be interested in, for example, keeping the B69 bus running on McDonald instead of terminating at Prospect Park West and 19th/20th streets, conditions at the Windsor Terrace Library, conditions at Thomas J. Cuite/Froggy Park and Greenwood Playground, and traffic congestion on 19th Street by the school complex. But our neighbors who live across the street (the Prospect Expressway) are far more likely to share these interests. PLEASE - keep the neighborhoods of the 44th Assembly District intact as they currently exist and have for over 30 years. Thank you! Shirley Levy
  
• Laurin
  February 13, 2023
  I have lived on McGuinness Boulevard for nearly 13 years, and the proposed cut makes that street the dividing line to put some parts of Greenpoint in a mostly Queens district. Map drafters, I and many of my neighbors cross that street to enter into the rest of Greenpoint to do our grocery shopping, congregating and eating. This map unnecessarily divides up Greenpoint into East and West sections which does not represent live within this neighborhood, please do not do this!
  
• Alice Boles
  February 13, 2023
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• Jaclyn
  February 13, 2023
  I am unable to attend the public hearing this week but I am very concerned with the proposed redistricting of the 44th AD and hope to persuade you to reconsider. I live on E4th between Greenwood and Vanderbilt Streets in Kensington-Windsor Terrace and see that the Commission is proposing to cut off the 44th AD using the Prospect Expressway as a dividing line. This would cut us off of our community of interest - our schools, library, parks, houses of worship, transportation (bus routes, subway line, bike lines). Anyone who has spent any time at all in our area would understand that this simply doesn't make sense! The area West of the Expressway is very much part of the area to the East-- our children attend schools together on both sides of the Expressway; we worship at churches, synagogues and mosques together; we cross this border regularly to shop, dine, visit. Our closest subway stop, the Ft. Hamilton F/G, has exits on either side of the Expressway, so this redistricting would split that single subway station in half!! In short, in every sense of the word, this area is a community of interest and a united neighborhood and we share the same concerns and issues. The 51st AD, a vibrant district located to the West containing Sunset Park and Red Hook, is on the other side of Green-Wood Cemetery and is very much a distinct neighborhood from ours. The Cemetery creates a very real boundary of hundreds of acres-- one that can not be easily crossed. (It is quite literally closed to the public after dark.) We in our neighborhood fear that if we were redistricted into the 51st AD, our tiny sliver of a neighborhood would be an afterthought. We currently see our representative in our neighborhood and can easily walk to his office, to reach the 51st AD representative’s office would require taking 2 buses and a subway - a round trip of nearly an hour. According to your website: "A community of interest is a population which shares enough social and economic interests of importance that suggest said community should be included in a single district for effective and fair representation. These might include similar standards of living, shared methods and patterns of transportation, or similar economic and societal concerns. The commission shall consider the maintenance of cores of existing districts, of pre-existing political subdivisions, including counties, cities, and towns, and of communities of interest.” This could not more accurately describe the area area you are excluding from the 42AD on the current draft and is contrary to many of the bedrock principles which should guide fair redistricting and good government. I am respectfully asking the Commission to restore Green-Wood Cemetery along 20th Street to be 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 as 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 afterthought in the 51st AD divided from that district by the hundreds of acres of Green-Wood Cemetery. 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. Simply put, the current plan needs to be revised. Please come and visit our neighborhood and you will immediately understand that this proposed new map needs to be adjusted. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Jaclyn Stemple
  
• Lise
  February 13, 2023
  Splitting Greenpoint and putting half of us into a Queens constituency is nuts. We are Brooklyn, not Queens. Stop playing around and let us elect representatives who represent Brooklyn, our borough, where WE live. Thank you
  
• Adam
  February 13, 2023
  I think the alteration lines for District 50 are not great. Redistricting Greenpoint east of McGuinness to be a part of LIC, Maspeth, Glendale and Rego Park splits our neighborhood in two, and lumps those of us in the redistricted zone in with neighbourhoods with totally different needs than our community (ie. largely industrial/commercial areas.) Please keep district 50 as it is so our needs as a community can be best served.
  
• Morgan
  February 13, 2023
  Greenpoint, Brooklyn should not be split into two Assembly Districts. The east and west sides of Greenpoint have entirely shared interests and should be represented by one person who can actively support the neighborhood - it does not make any logical sense to cleave it in two and cause competition for attention and resources when anything on one side will undoubtedly affect the other.
  
• Steve
  February 13, 2023
  I live in Greenpoint. I've been here for 22 years. The whole neighborhood feels whole. From here, I can easily walk to Williamsburg, and often ride the L train into Manhattan. I feel no connection, geographically or culturally, to Maspeth, Glendale, or Rego Park. This map does not reflect my life, my community, or my voting. Please keep Greenpoint, and north Brooklyn, whole, as a coherent community. – Steve Silverstein
  
• Marvin
  February 13, 2023
  Testimony of Marvin Ciporen to the IRC Re-44th AD My name is Marvin Ciporen and I have lived in Park Slope for 50 years. I thank the Chair and members of the IRC for your work and for the opportunity to suggest improvements to your suggested plans for redistricting the 44th Assembly District. The most important problem in the draft plan is the proposal to remove sections of Kensington and Windsor Terrace from the 44th AD and place them in the 51st AD by making the Prospect Expressway the western boundary of the 44th AD. Instead, I urge the IRC to keep Windsor Terrace and Kensington intact by making Green-Wood Cemetery along 20th Street the western border of the 44th AD, and Green-Wood Cemetery along McDonald Avenue and Fort Hamilton Parkway out to 39th Street the Northern border of the 44th AD. This shift of a few blocks is geographically very sensible and will help ensure that all ADs serve about the same number of people. I believe IRC’s proposed change came from a mistaken assumption that the Prospect Expressway is an actual dividing line. It is not. There are numerous overpasses every few blocks that facilitate easy and safe crossings of the highway. My wife and I (like many of our neighbors) regularly use those “bridges” and for two years we walked back and forth from our home to pick up our grandchildren who went to Pre-K at the DOE’s educational center at the former Bishop Ford High School (19th St. in Windsor Terrace). The Pre-K complex is one of the many educational, religious institutions of all faiths, and civic associations that connect residents of all parts of the 44th AD. The proposed changes would be divisive. For example, under the IRC’s initial proposal four school communities (PS 154, PS 130, PS 320 and PS 179) and at least five religious congregations (Holy Name, Immaculate Heart of Mary, Flatbush & Shaare Torah Jewish Center, Daitul Jannah Zane Masijid, and the Bangladeshi Muslim Center) will be split in half. James Brennan, the former Assembly Member who served the 44th AD for more than 3 decades, personifies the dislocation the proposed new boundaries would create. Jim would no longer be a resident of the 44th AD under the draft plan. Moreover, the most vulnerable people who would no longer be part of the 44th AD will be harmed by the change. The 44th Assembly Member’s Office has a long history of providing exceptional constituent services. As a consultant, for 35+ years, to nonprofits serving high need communities and populations; I learned that people most in need of help are often hesitant to, or fearful of, seeking assistance. It takes a lot of time to build the trusting relations and reputations that enable professionals to effectively aid those in need. Many people who now are confident about working with 44th AD staff may not, seek needed assistance from government if they will have to reach out to 51st AD staff. Thank you again for the opportunity share my perspective on why all of Kensington and Windsor Terrace should remain part of the 44th AD.
  
• Ann Marie
  February 13, 2023
  Windsor Terrace/Kensington My name is __Ann M Clarke______. 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 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. Without this change, the portions of Kensington and Windsor Terrace cut out of the 44th AD will be a small afterthought 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. Two local elementary schools, P.S. 130 and P.S. 230, several local places of worship, such as Immaculate Heart of Mary Roman Catholic 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 mosques which serve the growing South Asian community in Kensington and will now have to petition two different Assemblymembers 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 1950s, 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 overdevelopment 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. Thank you for your time. A community of interest is a population which shares enough social and economic interests of importance that suggest said community should be included in a single district for effective and fair representation. These might include similar standards of living, shared methods and patterns of transportation, or similar economic and societal concerns. The commission shall consider the maintenance of cores of existing districts, of pre-existing political subdivisions, including counties, cities, and towns, and of communities of interest."
  
• Judy
  February 13, 2023
  The proposed new District 44 map in Brooklyn will separate our long standing cohesive community and serves no apparent purpose. I am against redistricting as it will be detrimental to health of our neighborhoods.
  
• Garth
  February 13, 2023
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  Thanks for your attention and bipartisan actions!
  
• Garth
  February 13, 2023
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  After 3 decades of making the residents of Richmond Hill and South Ozone Park orphans and step-children, do the right thing-approve this AD 24/AL map you agreed upon in a bipartisan manner! Let us advance, not retrogress! Any other map will be in contempt and in violation of the Court's order!
  
• Garth
  February 13, 2023
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  The voters choose who will represent them, not the other way around. Jenifer Rajkumar & David Weprin sliced, diced and gerrymandered the AD 24 Richmond Hill-South Ozone Park community for their self-serving preservation, and colonial mentality interests of divide and rule!