New York State Independent Redistricting Commission

Michele
December 4, 2021
View File
Attached please find a revised New York State Senate plan submitted on behalf of the Unity Map Coalition. The revised Senate plan complies with New York's 'block on border' requirements. The Unity Map Coalition is comprised of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Center for Law and Social Justice at Medgar Evers College, CUNY and LatinoJustice PRLDEF. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Many Thanks, Michele C. Lamberti, Esq. Redistricting Project Coordinator Unity Map Coalition michele.c.lamberti@gmail.com (917) 270-1340

Mahmudur
December 3, 2021
View File
Hello New York State Redistricting Commission, I am a Queens College student and political science major. My elections class this year is part of a new iniative at Queens College to live up to our motto, “We learn so that we may serve”. Given the once in a decade opportunity, our first project was to understand how redistricting works and getting familiar with the process in New York State. In the process of working on my project I learned that my community of interest, the south asian muslim community is currently fractured into three assembly districts, diluting our voice in the New York State Assembly. South East Asians vary in ethnicity but share a common cultural heritage, and in New York are largely immigrant and first generation, predominantely Muslims residing in Jamaica Queens which are currently divided between Districts 24, 29, and 32. The south asian muslim community is convincingly a cohesive political group because of multiple factors. As a political support base, the masjids are increasingly in frequency as the years go by, a location of political campaigning by democratic primary candidates before and after the primary, as well as currently elected incumbents seeking to enhance their base, and acknowledge the existence of the community. This was not the case when I first moved to the neighborhood, and growing up the masjids dealing with overcapacity issues have expanded by buying neighboring properties.The holy day eid prayer frequently surpasses 15-20000 attendees, and this is just my local mosque. As shown on the Community of Interest overlay there are 8 masjids within a mile radius. This is compounded by the business district on hillside ave along this stretch that is majority owned and operated by south east asians catering to the communities needs with supermarkets, restaurant, and professional services like doctor, lawyers, accountants. I appreciate the opportunity as a citizen to get involved and give input in the redistricting process and hope my testimony presents a solid case for why Assembly District 24 should be drawn to avoid cracking the substantial south asian muslim population.

Verda
December 1, 2021
View File
https://districtr.org/plan/88405 Population of 135,770 is slightly over by 0.82% This includes the core of the Community of Interest to "Keep Jamaica Intact." Thanks for interactive program "Districtr" to support the construction this map.

Mahtab
November 29, 2021
View File
Hello Commission, My name is Mahtab Khan and I am the Secretary of the Muslim Democratic Club of New York. I’m also someone who's previously worked with the U.S Census Bureau as an enumerator helping folks in the community fill out the census. Thank you for holding these meetings and allowing community members to testify on redistricting. I recently updated my map and I believe this map better represents the best interests of communities that have been ignored and left out of the process for too long. As I mentioned in the previous meetings, I believe it is best for Assembly District 24 to have all of Hillside Avenue and have lines come down to reach Jamaica Avenue. We should also have Richmond Hill as its own independent Assembly District as recommended by community members there. Like I said before, Representation Matters at all levels of government. From the 150 seats we have in the State Assembly we only have 4 Asian State Assembly Members with only 2 being of South Asian descent. I believe if South Asian communities in Queens were not cracked, elected officials would have done more for our communities. In Assembly District 24, South Asian communities have been hit hardest by the pandemic - not just the virus itself, but by hate crimes, language barrier issues preventing them from accessing resources, and them not being able to pray or meet in congregations at our houses of worship - which has weakened our community ties. As immigrants we rely extensively on the networks that our faith communities and families provide For far too long these communities have been underserved, underfunded, and underrepresented and having representatives who understand our communities’ struggles would help address the changes we’d like to see. We can’t let the status quo continue. We need new leaders who come from our communities because they’d be able to best advocate for our needs and voice our concerns by understanding our struggles with their own lived experience. I believe establishing a South Asian plurality district won't solve all our problems but it will allow our communities to make some progress towards addressing the particular challenges we face. In Eastern Queens it’s possible to draw an Assembly District where the South Asian community has a plurality. Please try to use this map as a reference for how the new district lines should be drawn so our communities could finally get the funding and representation that’s been long overdue. Thank You!

Sherif
November 29, 2021
View File
A map of Astoria, Queens, showing the percentage of Arabic-speakers and how the proposed Letters map dissects the community in half, diluting their political power, in a way that discriminates against this community.

Wai
November 29, 2021
View File
Northeastern Queens is divided incoherently when it can be divided into rational Assembly Districts just by using neighborhoods and major roadways. The attached proposal attempts to keep communities of interest intact, while forming more compact districts, by using the Long Island Expressway, Utopia Parkway, Union Turnpike, Grand Central Parkway, Jamaica Avenue and 35th Avenue as district lines. While this proposal would shift Assembly District 40 south, there is nothing sacrosanct about that district’s current lines. Heavily trafficked Northern Boulevard already bisects that district, separating its distinct halves. Any district encompassing Flushing will be overwhelmingly Asian majority because of the high population and percentage share of Asian residents.

MARK
November 27, 2021
View File
Please find, attached, a presentation that includes the Proposed Map and associated requested data, related to the testimony of Mark Hanna, delivered on behalf of Yalla Brooklyn, on 11/16/21. Thank you.

Jami
November 26, 2021
View File
A compact map of New York's future congressional districts Copy-paste the following line to enter the redistricting map for closer examination and editing; https://davesredistricting.org/join/2d20b5c1-3cfc-45ba-a705-b3e1601a2033

Ekram
November 24, 2021
View File
Attached Map of Percentage of Population with Arab Ancestry with current Assembly District.

Amany
November 24, 2021
View File
Attached Map of Percentage of Population with Arab Ancestry in Brooklyn with current Assembly District

Samia
November 24, 2021
View File
Attached is Map of Percentage of Population with Arab Ancestry in Brooklyn with current Assembly District

Samia
November 24, 2021
View File
BayRidge Assembly District map

Ekram
November 24, 2021
View File
BayRidge Assembly Map

Amany
November 24, 2021
View File
Bay Ridge Assembly District

Minewattie
November 24, 2021
View File
Attached is my Recommended Revised Redistricting Draft Map P (as in Peter). Thank you.

Submissions

Submitted Maps Return to Archived Submissions Page