Proposal Would Split The 9th CD Among Neighboring Lawmakers
A federal judge has released a preliminary plan for the redistricting of congressional seats in New York State-a plan that would result in the end of the Ninth Congressional District as we know it.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Roanne Mann, who was named the redistricting special master in the wake of the state’s inability to redraw congressional lines, reportedly had until Monday, Mar. 12 to release her plan, but released preliminary plans on Tuesday, Mar. 6.
Due to the results of the 2010 Census, the state must lose two congressional seats. Mann’s plan would take the Ninth Congressional Seat currently represented by Rep. Bob Turner and split it between several neighboring districts.
Elmhurst, Maspeth, Ridgewood, Middle Village, Glendale, Rego Park, Forest Hills, Kew Gardens, Briarwood, Pomonok, Jamaica, Flushing, Fresh Meadows, Murray Hill, Auburndale and Bayside would be part of a new Sixth Congressional District, which mostly includes areas represented by Turner and fellow Rep. Gary Ackerman.
Woodhaven, which is currently also in Turner’s district, would be paired with portions of Ridgewood and Glendale and the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Cypress Hills, Bushwick, Williamsburg-as well as portions of Red Hook in Brooklyn and Manhattan’s Lower East Side and Chinatown-in a new Seventh District, in essence combining it with the area currently represented by Rep. Nydia Velázquez.
Ozone Park, South Ozone Park and Lindenwood would be added to large portions of Southeast Brooklyn currently represented by Rep. Edolphus Towns to make the new Eighth Congressional District.
Mann’s plan also eliminates the 22nd District seat of retiring Rep. Maurice Hinchey in the Hudson Valley.
The new lines must be in place by Mar. 20, when candidates for Congress can begin to gather petition signatures to get on the ballot for the June 26 Congressional primaries. A final version of the maps is expected to be released on Monday, Mar. 12.
Reaction
In a statement, the Woodhaven Residents Block Association (WRBA) announced their opposition to the plan.
“I understand that the Special Master needed to work in a hurry, but this proposal sloppily tosses Woodhaven into a district that includes almost none of the neighborhoods we’ve shared a district with for decades,” said WRBA Director Alexander Blenkinsopp in a statement. “We certainly didn’t expect our congressional lines to look exactly the same post-redistricting. This proposal, however, splits up Woodhaven and essentially separates us from the rest of Queens.”
Assemblyman Rory Lancman announced last month that he plans to run against Turner, who won his seat in a special election last September. In a statement issued on Tuesday afternoon, he announced that the new maps will not curb his interest in running for Congress.
Lancman lives in Fresh Meadows while Turner currently resides in Breezy Point in the Rockaways. The peninsula, under Mann’s plan, would be combined with portions of southeast Queens currently represented by Rep. Gregory Meeks to create a new Fifth Congressional District.
In an e-mail to the Times Newsweekly on Tuesday afternoon, Turner stated that “[t]he redistricting plan introduced today by the special master is just another step in the process. I am prepared to run in whatever district I reside in once the final lines are adopted.”
