Queens gears up for once-in-a-decade redistricting
/
Queens residents will have an opportunity to weigh in on how the county’s electoral districts, like Assembly District 34 pictured above, are drawn. Map via Jessica González-Rojas/NYS Assembly
By Jacob Kaye and Rachel Vick
For the first time in history, Queens residents will have the opportunity to weigh in on the districts that will define the borough’s representation in government for the next decade.
The redistricting process will begin with a public meeting for residents to share their thoughts on existing district lines with the New York State Independent Redistricting Commission. Using public input and census data, the commission will redraw electoral districts for congressional and State Legislature seats, potentially changing the make-up of who gets elected to office in Queens.
“Residents have a chance to shape the next 10 years of representation,” said Douglas Breakell, one of the co-executive directors of the commission. “And it's important that we have participation for this process to work.”
Redistricting was formerly a partisan process prior to 2014, when a state law was passed to bestow the map drawing powers into the hands of the commission, which is made of five Democratic and five Republican members and two co-executive directors.
Also new to the process is the public comment period. In Queens, residents will have the opportunity to submit testimony and speak about the ways in which they wish to see the lines redrawn at 2 p.m. on Thursday, July 22.
Karen Blatt, the commission’s other co-executive director, said she hopes people share not only how they are negatively impacted but also how they are positively impacted by district lines.
After detailed census data is released next month, the commission will draw up a first draft of new districts. Following the first map, more public input will be collected and then the commission will present a final draft to the State Senate and Assembly.
If the legislature rejects the map twice, the lawmakers will have the opportunity to draw their own maps.
Queens representatives say that they have faith in the commission and in the process, which they feel should be independent of political motivations.
“It's really critical that districts that are put together to reflect their communities and do so in an equitable and fair way,” said Assemblymember Nily Rozic. “You want [districts] that are contiguous, that are practical, that encourage people to participate in government, that look like the people that they're aiming to represent and that that happen in an independent and fair way.”
Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas, a first-term lawmaker representing Assembly District 34, said that while she believes the process should be independent, she’s hoping the new lines reflect her community’s interests and are more cohesive than the current map.
Assembly District 34 is made up of portions of several neighborhoods. The District 34 map resembles a handgun, with a slim portion running south through Woodside and into Elmhurst, with a larger portion running east into Jackson Heights and Corona.
“As someone who represents a community, I want to have a very strong stake in what the lines look like and how it's carved up,” González-Rojas said. “[The Independent Redistricting Commission] is great. It should be a very independent process. But obviously, as someone who represents this district, it's important to me what the lines will look like and how it will change.”
“I don't actually have one community that's intact,” González-Rojas said.
Other electoral maps in Queens represent the ideal scenario; connected neighborhoods that represent the population without being skewed for political gain.
“I’m lucky, compared to most, that my district actually seems to make some sense,” said Astoria Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani. “The way in which it's been drawn, it isn't leaps and bounds to cut out some things and add in others.”
In districts that do cut through portions of neighborhoods, or leave out certain ethnic, racial or economic populations, voters have their franchise infringed upon, Mamdani said.
“There are some [districts] where it cuts into part of a neighborhood and then cuts out and is doing the work to ensure that certain constituencies have their voting power diluted,” he said.
The commission is tasked with a balancing act, juggling fair redistricting for communities with an obligation to evenly distribute the population — a rule responsible for every congressional district in Queens except one crossing county lines.
There is only a small deviation allowed between districts, said Jeffrey Wice, director of the New York Law School’s New York Census and Redistricting Institute.
“The question becomes how many congressional districts Queens [will] retain wholly in the borough or share with other counties and this will all depend on what the census data shows on the local level,” Wice said.
“New lines will be set in place for 10 years and will help determine who represents Queens; everything is dependent on programs and dollars, and that's dependent on electoral districts,” he added. “If you don't think your district is properly represented, this is the time to speak up. There's no second chance — we have one opportunity to take the census and one opportunity to redraw the lines and that... lasts for a decade.”
Queens residents can sign up to speak at the Independent Redistricting Commission’s hearing at nyirc.gov/meetings.
