Rough Draft Of Council Lines
New York City’s Districting Commission released on Tuesday, Sept. 4, a preliminary map of the realignment of all 51 City Council districts, and it appears that minor changes are in store for districts located within the Times Newsweekly’s coverage area.
The independent body, comprised of appointees of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and City Council Minority Leader James Oddo, readjusted the district maps for all five boroughs according to Census data population.
Chairman Benito Romano cautioned that the maps were far from final, noting that the public will have the opportunity to provide further input on redistricting during a second round of public hearings scheduled to take place in October. The first slate of sessions occurred in August.
“There are many more views that need to be shared with the commission given the significance of redrawing these lines for the next 10 years,” Romano said.
Locally, the preliminary realignment of the 30th City Council District, which is currently represented by Elizabeth Crowley, gains an area of Maspeth generally bounded by Andrews Avenue, Grand Avenue, Metropolitan Avenue and the Brooklyn/ Queens border currently within the 26th City Council District, which is represented by Jimmy Van Bramer.
Crowley’s district is also expanded into an area of Woodhaven currently in the confines of the 32nd Council District represented by Eric Ulrich. This area is generally located south and west of Park Lane South, Forest Parkway, Jamaica Avenue and Woodhaven Boulevard, north of Atlantic Avenue and east of the Brooklyn/ Queens border.
No changes are planned in the area of Ridgewood within the Brooklyn based 34th Council District, which is currently represented by Diana Reyna. Only a few blocks of western Bushwick are being shifted from the 34th District to the 37th Council District, represented by Erik Martin Dilan.
In turn, the 30th Council District would also lose an area of Maspeth generally north of Grand Avenue to Van Bramer’s 26th District, while areas of Richmond Hill and Kew Gardens generally bounded on the north by Park Lane South and 84th Avenue, on the west by the Rockaway Beach branch of the Long island Rail Road, on the south by 92nd Avenue Jamaica Avenue, 108th Street, and west of Lefferts Boulevard.
These areas will go into the 32nd District (Ulrich), the 29th Council District (currently represented by Karen Koslowitz) and the 28th Council District (currently represented by Ruben Wills).
The 30th Council District includes areas of Ridgewood (north and east of Woodward and Myrtle avenues), Glendale, Maspeth and Middle Village.
Koslowitz’s 29th District is also gaining an area of Elmhurst and Rego Park currently within the 25th Council District, which is represented by Daniel Dromm. Subtracted from the 29th District, however, is an area of Richmond Hill south of Jamaica Avenue, north of Atlantic Avenue between 115th Street and the Van Wyck Expressway. This area will move into Wills’ 28th District.
The 29th District also includes much of Forest Hills and Rego Park as well as a portion of Middle Village.
While gaining areas of northern Maspeth, Van Bramer’s 26th District will lose areas of Woodside, Astoria and Long Island City generally north of 35th Avenue and Broadway to the 22nd Council District, which is currently held by Peter Vallone Jr. The 26th District includes much of Woodside, Sunnyside and Long Island City.
Dromm’s 25th District will gain areas of Elmhurst and Corona generally south of Roosevelt Avenue, 95th Street, 99th Street and Corona avenue currently within the confines of the 21st Council District, which is represented by Julissa Ferreras.
The 21st District will also be expanded northward to include La- Guardia Airport (currently within the 22nd Council District) and areas of the south Bronx. The 22nd District will also, for the first time, include southern areas of the Bronx as well as Randalls and Ward islands.
The full map can be downloaded at the Districting Commission’s website, www.nyc.gov/districting. Hardcopy versions of the map are also available for view at the main branches of the Queens and Brooklyn public libraries and at Queens and Brooklyn borough halls.
Check the Districting Commission’s website for further details about the schedule of the second round of public hearings, which has yet to be announced.
Once final maps are approved by the commission and the City Council, the new districts will take effect in time for the 2013 citywide elections. Under the current term limit law, Crowley, Dromm, Ferreras, Koslowitz, Ulrich, Van Bramer and Wills are eligible to run for another term. Reyna and Vallone, who are nearing the end of their third terms, are ineligible.
