Submissions

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• Omar
  December 9, 2021
  Thank you for accepting my comment on the ongoing NY State redistricting process. My name is Omar Suarez and I have been a resident of the Bronx for over 15 years. I have worked in the Dominican community of the West Bronx and Upper Manhattan for several years now and have seen first hand how it forms a cohesive and and vibrant community of interest. Residents of these two adjoining sectors of the city share patterns of cultural expression (food, music, barber shops, salons, recreation), employment and economic ties, countless lines of public transportation, and high levels of internal migration. In short, the large Dominican population across this part of the city means that we need districts that respect the boundaries of this zone. The zone, roughly, tracks East of Broadway, north of 155th street in Manhattan, and from the Harlem River to Webster Ave, North of 149th street. In particular, Assembly Districts should recognize that east and west of the Grand Concourse in the Bronx represents a significant dividing line along geographic, social, and cultural lines. Assembly district lines should avoid crossing over Grand Concourse or Webster avenue in as an alternative North-South divider. Respecting the continuity of this community of interest will lead to better representation for residents of the Bronx. My best, Omar Suarez
  
• Christine
  December 8, 2021
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• Marylin
  December 8, 2021
  The Rock away peninsula must remain undivided. The plan to divide the peninsula into two districts is wrong. We are one community with very specific needs and this plan would totally undermine our rights. I strongly oppose it.
  
• John
  December 8, 2021
  Please do not separate the Rockaway’s into separate districts. The Peninsula has to be kept as one. We are one community with the same goals and aspirations for our neighborhood. It seems like a typical divide and conquer type of initiative.
  
• Cynthia
  December 8, 2021
  As a longtime resident of Woodhaven in Queens, NY I am very concerned about the new re-districting plan that you are considering which would break my community up into different zones. My community should be unified under one "roof" when redistricting so we have the representation that we need as a community going forward. Please do not break my comminity into smaller groups.
  
• Marie
  December 8, 2021
  Please note that I tried repeatedly to enter this statement via the link provided in several outreach emails but my log in information was repeatedly rejected. I apologize that I did not try to submit via the website earlier. Marie Inserra *********************************** To Whom It May Concern: I am a resident of Peekskill, NY, a racially and linguistically diverse environmental justice community that is part of Congressional District NY-17. As one of the Hudson River towns, Peekskill shares a similar economic and societal profile with the other towns in this category, as well as a direct concern regarding a number of environmental issues: the presence and decommissioning of the Indian Point nuclear plant, the ongoing effect of the Wheelabrator incinerator and the presence of a 42 in. high pressure fracked gas pipeline on the Indian Point premises. I urge the maintenance of the current NY -17 profile as a way of ensuring the consistency of the election choices made by our community of interest in 2020. Our Member of Congress was the clear choice among the large number of primary candidates against whom he ran, and he has provided highly effective representation for his constituents. In my opinion, any representative of our area must be committed to assuring that the decommissioning process at Indian Point is conducted safely and transparently and that the issue of long-term storage of the huge inventory of radioactive spent nuclear fuel is addressed. Many of us in the community fear that this process is now the responsibility of a company with a long profile of fraudulent behavior and are deeply concerned that the NRC is not providing the oversight needed. The current long-term plan for storage involves the use of flimsy (by comparison to our European counterparts) storage casks which will be transported (presumably via the Hudson River) to an unidentified “interim” storage site. Given the fact that there is not at present (and likely will never be) a permanent storage site, the law should preclude the establishment of any interim sites. Furthermore, these sites are all located in poor communities of color – often on or adjacent to indigenous lands. The collective risk of transporting or “disposing” of this waste according to Holtec’s plan is unthinkable. Permanent storage on site in more robust casks – hardened on-site storage – is the safer and more just solution. Mondaire Jones has fully involved himself in these issues. Peekskill is home to the most significant source of air pollution in the county – the Wheelabrator “waste to energy” plant where all non-recyclable garbage from most of Westchester County is sent. Westchester’s air quality is graded as “F” as a result in large part of the effluence from this plant. This is clearly an issue in dire need of a different solution – mandatory food scrap recycling, legislative pressures to significantly reduce waste and favor reuse must be considered. The 42 in. AIM pipeline that crosses northern Westchester was permitted several years ago and puts the lives and safety of those in NY-17 at risk, owing in part to the emission of carcinogens and other toxins at the compressor stations along its route, but most significantly because of the colocation of this hazard and the nuclear plant at Indian Point. For years, community activists worked to prevent its construction; now we are fighting to shut it down during the precarious decommissioning period. These are all issues that tie us together in the district and urgently need the support of a committed MOC. In summary, I believe that the common location with proximity to the Hudson, similar socioeconomic profile, similar diversity of our populations, and the prevalence of environmental risk are the threads that hold our compact district together and indicate the need for the preservation of the present NY-17 district’s geographic profile. Respectfully submitted, Marie Inserra,NP Peekskill, NY
  
• richard
  December 7, 2021
  David: The word “independent“ in your committee’s name must have some meaning. It is imperative that as redistricting evolves, it is not seen simply as a means to deprive New Yorkers of a Black congressman. That’s what they do in Texas and Florida. We don’t do that here. It’s up to you to make sure New York remains a beacon of hope for good people in red and blue states. Your epitaph shouldn’t be “Et tu, New York.” You have that rare chance to make a difference.
  
• Naseem khan
  December 7, 2021
  A huge number of Pakistani community living around Coney Island Ave between Ave H to Church Ave, we want our separate district for city council
  
• Dorca
  December 7, 2021
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• Cynthia
  December 7, 2021
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• Louise
  December 7, 2021
  To The NYS Redistricting Commission 22 November 2021 Ladies and Gentlemen I have been a resident of Woodhaven for over fifty years, - my grandparents emigrated to this community from Lithuania over one hundred years ago. My family has had a presence in this very cohesive neighborhood for over a century. Our neighboring communities, including Richmond Hill, Glendale, and Ridgewood are cooperative, sister enclaves. We share very diverse groups: races, nationalities, ethnicities and religious beliefs, but we also share a common belief in our inter-dependent and cooperative Assembly District administrations. Our interests and needs are the same and our government representatives, be it City Council, State Assembly or State Senator, all work in harmony and have done so for decades. Your proposed change would suddenly deprive us of our current Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar, slicing her home, and office right out of our District. Why? In comparing the current, and proposed redistricting maps, I am appalled that you would even consider slicing a portion of Woodhaven, 11421 out of our district. That is like cutting off one of our arms or legs. The people that reside in the area from 98th St. to 85th St. from Jamaica Avenue up to Forest Park are part of our family. You simply cannot cut them out - they are Woodhaven residents, all inside 11421. We all have common needs and desires for our neighborhood. Then seeing the convoluted string-bean of a tail south, out to Howard Beach, Broad Channel, and Rockaway all the way to Breezy Point defies all logic. The concerns of the population in those communities are wholly different from ours, as they deal with rising water, storm surges, and many other weather-related concerns than we do. They deserve a dedicated representative who can concentrate on those very special needs. Lumping us together divides the focus of required funding, regulation, and representation. Our existing map works. Please don’t try to fix what ain’t broke. Sincerely yours. Louise Naples Woodhaven, NY
  
• Amy
  December 7, 2021
  I support the proposed Unity Map. Asian Americans need better and more representation at all levels of government. Our needs and concerns are often minimized and/or ignored even though Asian Americans are the fastest growing racial and ethnic demographic in NYS and across the US. Thank you.
  
• Dorothea
  December 7, 2021
  Please don't break up my neighborhood of Woodhaven in Queens, NY. We have many issues which need to be addressed and we are a community. I've lived in the neighborhood all my life and it is critical that we have representation that is unified and will fight for the funding we need for addressing the problems of illegal conversions, gang activity, illegal business use in the residential areas, the general lack of adequate services for the elderly and the handicapped, which are sorely being left behind. The list can go on and on. Please keep Woodhaven together in one district.
  
• Maria
  December 7, 2021
  I have lived in Woodhaven for over 30 years. My district has always been divided with City Council, which has been a disadvantage. We seem to get less money because the one City Council person will say that the other should also give money. Please don't redistrict.
  
• Michael
  December 7, 2021
  Good afternoon Commissioners and to my fellow Bronxites, my name is Michael Blake, and, I am the former Assembly Member of the 79th District in The Bronx from 2014 to 2020. Thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today. The 2010 Census indicated that The Bronx is the most diverse county in America with an 89.7% likelihood that any two people that you would meet, could be a different ethnicity. With such a unique diversity, especially in the South Bronx, it's essential to embrace and not divide that diversity based upon historical perceptions. Unlike the racist policies of Robert Moses, we should not have communities divided by bridges or arbitrary street corners. Communities and Diversity extend past a crosswalk and highway. On the Congressional lines: With that said, it is essential to maintain at least one Congressional district completely within the Borough. Per the proposal, we should not combine the 13th and 15th Congressional Districts Consider moving Districts 13, 15 and 14 eastbound so that the 13th goes further East into the Highbridge community, extending to Jerome Avenue with the George Washington Bridge still being the North border of that line to reflect the Dominican presence, The 15th to include the Parkchester community given that increasingly Afro-Latino population similar to the 15th On the Senate: I defer to Senator Rivera's testimony on the 33rd. Moreover, consider that the 32nd senate district should be everything between the Bronx river and Westchester creek, South of East Tremont Avenue and north of the Long Island Sound. There should not be a bi-borough district for State Senate, as a proposal had part of the district extending into Queens Moreover, with The Bronx, notably the 15th CD having the largest West African population in the world outside of Africa, just to name a few, it is essential to embrace the growing Black population within The South Bronx. The Unity Map produced by the Center for Law and Social Justice, Latino Justice and Asian American Legal Defense Fund is far more responsive to Equity and lines should be more reflective to their drafts. For Assembly Districts: For the 79th Assembly District, the line should extend from 153rd and Melrose to 149th and Grand Concourse to have a clearer boundary. Moreover, southern portions of the 79th along the CB1 and northern portions of CB6 should be modified. It is essential to remember that according to the previous Census, there is not a more diverse county in America. It is my ask that you will consider these changes as you determine final lines for redistricting. Thank you for your time. Yours in Service, Michael Blake