Queens BP hosts redistricting webinar

Borough President Donovan Richards was joined by redistricting experts Jeffrey Wice (pictured here) and John Albert on Monday, Feb. 28, for a webinar on how new redistricting lines will effect Queens residents.   Screenshot via Youtube

By Rachel Vick

One month after the state legislature voted on new Congressional, State Senate and Assembly districts, Borough President Donovan Richards hosted a webinar to offer residents a better understanding of the process and what the new lines may mean for them.

Richards was joined by Jeffery Wice, an adjunct professor at New York Law School, and John Albert, an organizer with the South Asian American advocacy group Taking Our Seat.

The once-in-a-decade redistricting process was widely criticized after the bipartisan commission tasked with creating the lines failed to do so, allowing state lawmakers to draw the lines of the districts they will soon seek to run in. A large number of advocates, who expected to have their opinions on the process heard, felt as though lawmakers ignored their pleas to keep communities whole, and not divide neighborhoods and effectively dilute racial, ethnic and economic groups’ voting power.

“Redistricting impacts us all, whether we know it or not,” said Richards, who, in his current seat, will be unaffected by the changes in district lines. “The lines of a district can impact whether a community has the opportunity to vote together… or whether they are divided up in ways that dilute their collective voice. As Queens borough president it is my duty to serve the entire borough - the entirety of Queens is my district.”

“The reality is we must learn from this redistricting process and ensure that we do not make the same mistakes again,” he added, acknowledging that the final maps failed to fully address concerns of southeast Queens communities in South Ozone Park, Elmhurst, Woodside and Richmond Hill.

Queens residents on the call were able to ask questions about the next steps, with a number of neighborhood-specific questions regarding changes to their district. One inquired about the role assemblymembers could have played in keeping Richmond Hill as unified as possible – the neighborhood, once divided into seven assembly districts, is now divided into three.

Though there are districts that cut streets in half, the new lines have largely been smoothed from jumbled puzzle pieces of neighborhoods.

Allbert explained that while the lines are less than ideal, there were various factors in play contributing to the continued separation.

Richmond Hill was at the center of a significant community effort to make neighborhoods whole. Albert, who joined the advocates in the fight for unity, said that the end result was an “incremental step forward.”

“Elected officials themselves have a say in what this looks like so unless someone is willing to give up [thousands] you have to be able to cobble together communities,” he said. “They're disappointing; it's not what any of us advocating had asked for but I think in the way its come out reflects this push and pull between the limitation on size, the order the voting rights act protects Indo-Caribbean and South Asians and the way elected officials maintained the core groups of their previous districts.”

Albert said that getting involved and educated on the redistricting process is “one of the ways to stand up for democracy.”

Wice, who has served as counsel to multiple redistricting commissions throughout his career, gave an overview on the how, what and why of the results, and what Queens can expect from the upcoming City Council redistricting process.

He commended the concentrated effort from the state, city and community-based organization who mobilized to ensure a complete count in the 2020 Census, which plays a large role in the way district lines are drawn.

The new maps were created by the legislature using the data collected from the Census after the New York Independent Redistricting Commission failed to reach a consensus and submit maps that the lawmakers approved of.

In a lawsuit that questions the legislature's power to draw maps and that alleges gerrymandering in favor of Democrats, Judge Pat McAlllister has until April 3 to rule, but he won’t hear the case until Thursday.

Petitioning started for the upcoming election cycle on Tuesday.

No state or federal court has rejected a redistricting plan – with exception of a 1997 amendment of what is now Nydia Velasquez’ district based on a numbers glitch – for decades.

But as the legal battle over the state’s lines continues, the city is gearing up for its own redistricting.

In the next week New York City Mayor Eric Adams will be appointing his members to a commission to lead the process, and borough–based public hearings will be held before final plans are drawn for future council districts at the end of the year.

“We've got at least 10 more months of this in store and then we get ready for the 2030 census,” Wice said.