Commission unveils mostly unchanged congressional district map
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The New York State Independent Redistricting Commission voted to send new congressional district lines to the state legislature on Thursday after the court ordered them to do so. Screenshot from Redistricting & You/CUNY Graduate Center
By Ryan Schwach
The New York State Independent Redistricting Commission voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to approve a new state congressional district map that looks a lot like the one drawn by a court-appointed special master in 2022 following a litigious redistricting process that may not yet be out of the woods.
The bipartisan commission that previously had difficulties reaching consensus voted 9-1 on Thursday to send congressional district maps to the legislature. The new maps, which see few changes to Queens districts, come after the state’s top court ordered new congressional lines to be drawn in December.
Despite the approved map, the state’s redistricting process, which began three years ago, may not be over yet.
The maps will now be sent to the legislature and its Democratic majority, who may object to the map that bears striking similarity to the map that helped Republicans take the majority in the House of Representatives in 2022.
That map was drawn by the special master, who was tasked with creating the state’s Assembly, Senate and congressional maps after the Court of Appeals ruled that the legislature had illegally drawn gerrymandered district maps after the IRC had initially failed to submit a set of maps by their constitutional deadline.
But last year, the Court of Appeals sided with a group of Democrats who argued that New Yorkers hadn’t seen their constitutional right to a congressional map drawn by the IRC come to fruition. The top court, led by Chief Judge Rowan Wilson, ordered the IRC to redraw the map and submit it to the legislature before the end of February.
Overall, maps were drawn a total of four times, including the maps released on Thursday.
The state’s drama-filled redistricting process was noted by the IRC on Thursday. Also noted was the recent death of Dr. John Flateau, an important figure in state and New York City’s redistricting worlds, and the subsequent filling of his seat with Queens native and Queens Public Library CEO Dennis Walcott.
“The process was not without its challenges, but I am proud to say that we have worked cooperatively and collaboratively to address those challenges,” said Commission Chair Ken Jenkins.
The only nay vote on the commission came from Commissioner Yovan Samuel Collado, the director of community relations for the Carpenter Contractor Alliance of Metropolitan New York, who did not explain his reasoning.
Despite the tumultuous history leading up to Thursday’s map approval, the commission seemingly took a more conservative approach, making only marginal changes to districts statewide and locally in Queens.
Three of the five congressional districts that make up portions of Queens, including the 3rd, 5th and 7th Districts, currently represented by Congressmembers Tom Suozzi, Gregory Meeks and Nydia Velázquez, respectively, saw no changes at all.
The only changes for the borough came in Western Queens, where neighborhoods were swapped between Congressmember Grace Meng’s 5th District, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s 14th District.
In the new draft maps, Ocasio-Cortez’s district no longer stretches south to the Long Island Expressway, chopping much of Corona from her district and putting it in Meng’s.
The Corona part of AOC’s district now stops at 44th Avenue.
The 14th now also stretches further west to include Jackson Heights in the district. Also cut from AOC’s district was Citi Field, which sits in Meng’s district under the draft map – New York Mets owner Steve Cohen is currently attempting to bring a casino to the field’s parking lot, though federal officials likely won’t have that much impact on the ultimate approval of the project.
The only district changes for Queens come in the Jackson Heights and Corona neighborhoods in Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez’s district. The current lines are in purple, and the new lines released on Thursday are in black. Screenshot from Redistricting & You/CUNY Graduate Center
Now, the maps head to the state legislature, which will decide whether to approve them outright or reject them, likely to the approval of national Democrats but also likely a move that would invite yet another lawsuit.
"The next big question is going to be whether this plan will pass the legislature,” said professor at New York Law School who leads the school’s N.Y. Census & Redistricting Institute Jeff Wice. “And if the map fails, then it's all up in the air and we start all over again.”
One Democratic State Senator, James Skoufis, who represents Hudson Valley but was born in Flushing, has already come out in opposition and called for his fellow legislators to do the same.
“Almost two years of hand-wringing and legal battling for a fair congressional map, the only thing ‘bipartisan’ about the Independent Redistricting Commission’s proposal is that both parties are seeking to protect their incumbents,” he said in a statement.
As for why the commission chose to make so few changes – albeit some changes that could have effect on some races Central New York – Wice can only speculate.
“The commission had the ability to make changes as deemed necessary,” he said. “They were policy decisions, and they did not explain their changes. So, we really have to rely on this and how it impacts incumbents – and it basically protects incumbents in both parties.”
Whether or not Skoufis’ colleagues will heed his call remains to be seen, but even if they are approved, the next question becomes how it will affect this year’s congressional election cycle.
Depending on when – or if – the legislature passes the maps, it could result in a schedule change of the June 25 congressional primary election, or could result in a shortened petition period for candidates.
“There are still several things we don’t know yet,” said Wice.
