New York, NY–Today, the New York City Districting Commission publicly approved the new City Council maps. The New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) and NYIC Action Executive Director Murad Awawdeh released the following statement in response:
“After the Commission voted to not move forward with their current maps last month, we were hopeful to see them put in place positive changes in the way New Yorkers are represented in this city. Although the Commission improved transparency by making their meetings public, it’s clear that more work needs to be done.
“In Southeast Queens, we’re glad to see that Black representation of historically Black districts remains consistent and kept whole. At the same time, calls from the growing South Asian and Indo-Caribbean communities for representation must be heard. To accomplish this, the city should consider a Charter Review Commission to potentially create more council districts, so that all groups can get fair representation.
“The Commission did make some progress in keeping Latino and South Asian communities of interest together in Brooklyn’s Districts 38 and 39 and creating an Asian majority in the nearby 43rd. However, while the Commission created a new majority minority district in South Brooklyn, it failed to do so similarly in the Northwest Bronx, where population data shows a significant increase of Latino New Yorkers and supported creating a majority Latino district.
“Overall, the approval of these maps is a significant step in what has been an extensive redistricting process. We implore the City Council to judiciously consider all concerns raised by public input, and to make sure that one of our fundamental democratic processes moves forward in an efficient and effective manner.”
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