The proposed State Senate District 20 - covering Crown Heights, Sunset Park, and, um... a bunch of side streets between 4th and 5th Avenues.
The proposed Assembly and State Senate districts for elections beginning this November were released yesterday. No one was very happy, especially with the Senate districts.
Queens Councilman Peter Vallone, Jr. called District 12 a “baby alien popping out of a stomach.”
Councilman Lew Fidler, who is running to replace Carl Kruger in a March 20 special election but has has district boundaries redrawn to put his house in Minority Leader John Sampson’s district in November, called the process “disgustingly partisan.”
Governor Cuomo, through a spokesman, promised a veto.
BK Southie, which earlier this week proposed eliminating eight Senate districts (citing general economic conditions and legislative dysfunction), is now suggesting we eliminate the State Senate altogether. OK, we’re just kidding this time, but seriously, District 20. Seriously.
As expected, a new, 63rd district has been proposed, a move largely seen as a move by Senate Republicans to protect their slim majority. Former Mayor Ed Koch complained, “I am disappointed in this result and in the dishonorable lawmakers who openly pledged to do things differently this year, and then reneged when it wasn’t to their political advantage,” specifically referring to a pledge made by legislators in both parties to his movement to allow for redistricting independent of the Assembly and Senate. The same Rochester Democrat & Chronicle article quoted a NYPIRG spokesman saying population deviations exceeded a 3% good-governance guideline in 50 of the 63 districts – only 19 of the 62 districts exceeded such guidelines 10 years ago.
If there’s a silver lining for Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights, its that Senate Districts 22 and 23 – currently held by Republican Marty Golden and Democrat Diane Savino, respectively – aren’t gerrymandered… much more than they have been for the last ten years.
The proposal for District 22...
...as compared to Golden's current district.
Golden’s district will still have most of Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights at its core, with parts of Bensonhurst. He would pick up a portion of Manhattan Beach, carved up from Carl Kruger’s old district. It still goes down a narrow corridor through Sheepshead Bay to reach the friendly confines of Gerritsen Beach.
The proposal for Senate District 23...
...and Diane Savino's current district.
Diane Savino’s district continues to go to great lengths to avoid Bay Ridge. In fact, she would lose most of her existing Bay Ridge constituents. Her district would still hug the Shore Parkway to reach parts of Bath Beach, and she would pick up some ground in Gravesend, Coney Island, and Brighton Beach.
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Lauren