South Asian communities in Richmond Hill, South Ozone Park continue redistricting fight
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Members of the APA Voices Redistricting Task Force called for more transparency in the redistricting process at a Monday rally. Screenshot from APA Voice
By Ryan Schwach
South Queens advocates are not giving up their calls for transparency and accountability in the redistricting process, months after the legislature approved lines that they say keep their communities divided.
The APA Redistricting Task Force, a coalition of mainly South Asian and Indo-Caribbean groups in Richmond Hill and South Ozone Park, held a rally on Monday calling for transparency and for new Assembly maps that connect their communities.
The group is demanding answers from the New York Independent Redistricting Commission about why previous draft maps, which included a united South Asian district, were erased and replaced with district lines that mostly resemble those used over the past decade.
The state legislature approved the new lines – which had minimal diversions from the pre-existing boundaries – back in April, and the coalition has been fighting for its reversal since.
The New York Independent Redistricting Commissions’s last draft of maps before the approved ones, which were released in December, had – for the first time ever – contained the bulk of those communities into a single 24th Assembly District, which was applauded by community groups at public hearings.
The advocates are calling not just for new lines, but for answers as to why the NYIRC and the legislature made the change from December to April, despite overwhelming public support for the lines from the South Queens community.
“We still don't feel like we have a voice, nor do we have transparency,” said John Park, a member of the task force and the MinKwon Center. “What we still don't have is representation. One in five New Yorkers are Asian American, and yet when we had to wait to have representation to protect our communities.”
In the last few months, the group has tried to meet with the NYIRC, FOIA the NYIRC and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, all to no avail, they said. They are now calling in the commission to openly explain why they changed their minds on the South Queens district lines.
“What we're asking for is actual transparency and accountability,” said Park. “We always signed up to the testimonies that gave our feedback. We did our part in this democratic process, and we're still waiting 22 years without fixing anything.”
“We deserve transparency,” added Caribbean Equality Project founder, Mohamed Q. Amin.
“We are calling on the New York State Independent Redistricting Commission to voluntary disclose why you disregarded your own map for Richmond Hill and South Ozone Park.”
Since the start of the redistricting process, the advocates have said that not having the representation they feel they lack has led to gaps in funding and resources for the community.
“Since the beginning of the pandemic, we've been working tirelessly to fill out some of the gaps in resources in this community,” said South Queens Women's March leader Aminta Kilawan-Narine. “We have stepped up in ways that government has not.”
Kilawan-Narine said she was disappointed by the NYIRC’s change earlier this year.
“To say that I personally feel naive and stupid would be an understatement,” she said. “In my own personal optimism, I believed that the IRC was finally going to do the right thing, and that it was finally going to follow a transparent and democratic process to ensure justice and equity for our communities.”
The coalition also recently submitted a petition echoing their concerns, which has 1,000 signatures from community residents.
