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Asian civic group is ‘pleased’ with new districts, with big qualifications
WNYC — The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, which was part of the coalition that released the Unity Maps, sent out a review of the new redistricting proposal. While they were happy to see an increase in Asian-majority districts, the statement wasn’t without qualification:
SD 16 – Under LATFOR’s proposal, there is one Asian American majority State Senate district (52.20% Non-Hispanic Asian voting age population (VAP)), which includes Flushing, Queens. Currently, there are no Asian American majority Senate districts. “We’re glad that LATFOR recognized the importance of creating a majority Asian American Senate district,” said AALDEF Executive Director Margaret Fung. “But the contorted district lines of SD 16 split the neighborhood of Flushing. A compact district in Flushing-Bayside should be drawn to keep Asian American communities of interest together in these neighborhoods, as we demonstrated in the Unity Map.”
Under LATFOR’s proposal, there are three proposed majority Asian American State Assembly districts.
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“As a general matter, we are pleased that LATFOR has increased the number of Asian American majority Assembly districts from one to three,” said Jerry Vattamala, staff attorney with AALDEF’s Democracy Project. He added that a majority Asian American Assembly district has also been created for the first time in Sunset Park and Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.
Under the Unity Map, AALDEF proposed four Asian American majority State Assembly districts, with the fourth in the neighborhood of Elmhurst.
“While AD 49 is similar to our Unity Map, the South Asian community of Richmond Hill-South Ozone Park continues to remain divided between multiple State Assembly districts,” said Vattamala. “The Unity Map would have kept the Richmond Hill and South Ozone Park neighborhoods substantially together within a single Assembly district.”
Many of these groups are going to start releasing their own detailed analysis of the LATFOR lines-as AALDEF says it will-so stay tuned.
By Colby Hamilton