City Redistricting
Minority Groups Find New Lines Unacceptable
By ROSS BARKAN
More than the sign-waving or cutting remarks, what characterized Queens’ second and final round in front of the blank-faced Districting Commission was a popular two letter word: “déjà vu.”
While the decennial redrawing of City Council lines may not excite most of New York City’s diverse population, for minority advocacy groups, elected officials and civic leaders, the redistricting process is of paramount importance. Political fortunes can rise or fall based on where a district border not-so-arbitrarily falls. In Queens, groups representing the burgeoning Asian population are furious that a proposed City Council map from the 15-member Districting Commission fails, in their estimation, to account for sweeping racial and ethnic changes in the borough’s many neighborhoods.
One Congressional candidate, likely to be fighting for his political life next year in the City Council, is not too happy either.
“Being divided among different districts – the fracturing or ‘cracking’ of minority populations – is today the greatest problem New York City’s Asian-Americans are facing in our current district lines and in the preliminary map released last month,” said James Hong, speaking on behalf of the Asian American Community Coalition on Redistricting and Democracy. “If it feels a bit like déjà vu when our members and allies make their statements today, it’s for a good reason.”
Indeed, the second and likely last City Council redistricting public hearing was a carbon copy of the first. After piling into Flushing to decry the lines, ACCORD and its allies trekked to Long Island City on Oct. 10 to again reiterate to the commission, appointed by Mayor Mike Bloomberg and the City Council, that the proposed districts were unacceptable. Taking aim at the neighborhoods of Richmond Hill, South Ozone Park, Bayside and Elmhurst, ACCORD submitted its own “Unity Map” to the commission, which includes former State Senator Frank Padavan and Councilman Tom Ognibene. After the commission releases a revised map in November, the City Council will have to rubberstamp it.
Rare Opportunity
There is a statistic that ACCORD is fond of using: 300. The Asian population of Queens grew 300 times the rate of the rest of the Borough in the last decade. For all of that growth, the City Council in Queens only has one Asian representative, Councilman Peter Koo (D-Flushing). Asians now make up almost a quarter of Queens’ population, up from roughly 18 percent a decade ago.
Queens, and New York State, could have its first Asian-American member of Congress in Assemblywoman Grace Meng (D-Flushing), but if district lines remain as they are, Koo will not be joined by any other Asian-Americans in the City Council.
The redrawing of City Council district lines has not attracted the same sort of fiery scrutiny that came with State Senate and Assembly redistricting because the process, at least in theory, is more transparent. State representatives without term limits can draw their own districts, resulting in bizarre, non-contiguous lines crafted with the explicit intent of protecting the incumbent, not representing communities of common interest accurately. State Senate and Assembly districts are allowed to cross borough boundaries, unlike City Council districts.
This makes City Council redistricting a relatively refreshing process, but one that is still somewhat flawed, said Rachael Fauss, policy and research manager for Citizens Union, a good government group.
“One of the challenges, and obligations, of the commission is to address the growing minority population of New York City,” Fauss said.
The average City Council district in Queens contains 158,000 people. Their sizes, by federal law, can be 5 percent bigger or smaller than the average district. Citizens Union wants this number narrowed.
In their testimony to the commission, Citizens Union and ACCORD identified similar areas for reshaping. Elmhurst, according to ACCORD, is unfairly divided, pulled between the Forest Hills and Rego Park-based 29th District, represented by Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz (D-Forest Hills), and the Jackson Heights-based 25th District, represented by Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights). ACCORD wants Elmhurst to be placed entirely within the 25th District.
With only two majority Hispanic City Council districts currently, Queens is due at least two more after an uptick in the Hispanic population, Citizens Union maintained in their testimony. A delicate balancing act comes into play with Dromm’s heavily Hispanic 25th District, however—carved last decade as an “opportunity to elect” district for the LGBT community. In 2009, Dromm, who is openly gay, was elected. Citizens Union wants the “opportunity to elect” district kept intact.
The most vocal opposition to the proposed map may have come from South Ozone Park and Richmond Hill. Home to thriving Guyanese and South Asian populations, the neighborhoods are split among four City Council districts that would shrink to two under the commission’s proposal. That has not been enough to quell the rage of community leaders and aspiring elected officials who believe the area’s split representation has led to it receiving less public funding for a variety of essential services.
Residents lament the lack of community or senior centers in the area and some believe the solution to Richmond Hill and South Ozone Park’s status as the “orphan child of Queens,” in the words of Albert Baldeo, a Democratic district leader, is to create a single district for the area. The current proposal divides the neighborhoods at Lefferts Boulevard, splitting them into Councilman Ruben Wills’ (D-Jamaica) Jamaica-based 28th District and Councilman Eric Ulrich’s (R-Ozone Park) 32nd District.
If the Lefferts Boulevard boundary were moved east to the Van Wyck Expressway, as ACCORD wishes, new political opportunities would be created for South Asian civic leaders to become elected officials.
“The problem here is that Richmond Hill is split down the middle,” Baldeo said.
The South Asian Baldeo, who has ran for City Council and also lost a close election to former State Sen. Serphin Maltese, would be one of several individuals from the area that would see their political fortunes rise with a district boundary shifted eastward.
Bayside Blues
The one elected official to testify at both City Council redistricting hearings was Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Whitestone). Though he is facing Assemblywoman Grace Meng (D-Flushing) in a Congressional race that will be decided next month, Halloran is not expected to win the overwhelmingly Democratic district. While most City Council members in Queens have been mum on the proposed map, the outspoken Halloran has criticized the proposal for his 19th District, arguing that it splits several neighborhoods and does not keep together areas of similar zoning.
“Three council districts have been chopped up in a manner that does not actually serve the commission’s ends of keeping communities united,” Halloran said.
Halloran emphasized several times that he was upset the large Mitchell-Linden co-ops in Flushing would be divided between his district and the neighboring downtown Flushing-based 20th District. Local civic associations agree that Mitchell-Linden, historically belonging to the 20th District, should remain there in its entirety.
But according to a Democratic insider, the proposed district threatens Halloran because the chunk of Mitchell-Linden that could end up in Halloran’s district is traditionally Democratic. Several Democrats will battle in a primary to win the right to challenge Halloran in a northeast Queens area that is perpetually swing territory.
ACCORD is also pushing for Oakland Gardens, a neighborhood just south of Bayside, to be included in Halloran’s 19th District. This would unite the growing Asian populations of the two neighborhoods, which are not very distinct, and increase the possibility of an Asian candidate winning the district. In 2009, Halloran defeated the Korean-American Kevin Kim.
“I’d like to see communities kept together as much as possible,” said Councilman Mark Weprin (D-Oakland Gardens), who represents Oakland Gardens and eastern Queens. “I’d like to see lines not look like Rorschach tests, without clean borders logical boundaries.”
Reach Reporter Ross Barkan at [email protected] or (718) 357-7400, Ext. 127.
