New York City Districting Commission has announced a series of additional hearing dates for when the City’s residents can further testify on the latest draft city council district maps released by the commission on July 15. The commission is due to vote on the final council maps on Sept. 22.

 

The upcoming hearing dates are as follows:

• Tues., Aug. 16, 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Museum of the Moving Image, Sumner Redstone Theater, 36-01 35 Ave Astoria, Queens 11106
• Wed., Aug. 17, 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Lehman College (CUNY), Gillet Auditorium, 250 Bedford Park Blvd West, The Bronx 10468
• Thurs., Aug. 18, 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Staten Island Borough Hall, 10 Richmond Terrace, Rm 125
• Sun., Aug 21, 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Medgar Evers College (CUNY), School of Science Health & Technology, Dining Hall, 1638 Bedford Ave, Brooklyn 11225
• Mon., Aug. 22, 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, 515 Malcolm Blvd., Harlem, Manhattan, 10037.

 

The commission will hold these five hearings in each of the boroughs to receive more public testimony on the overall preliminary plan for all council districts. Besides testifying in person or by Zoom at the meetings, the public may also submit written testimony and maps by email to PublicTestimony@redistricting.nyc.gov, or by mail to NYC Districting Commission, 253 Broadway, 3^rd Floor, NY, NY 10007.

 

In addition, the NYC Districting Commission is holding a special, virtual, educational seminar on “racial bloc voting analysis,” with a recorded live stream on www.nyc.gov/districting on Thursday, Aug. 11, at 10 a.m. to comply with the Federal Voting Rights Act. The commission’s redistricting and racial bloc voting analysis expert will provide the commission with an educational seminar on the background and methodology used in racial bloc voting analysis.

 

As previously reported, a new city council plan is drawn every ten years, following the U.S. Census, to bring the city into compliance with the constitutional doctrine of one-person, one vote, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the charter of the City of New York. Commission officials said, “Residents who would like to submit maps for their testimony may draw their own maps using DistrictR, a mapping tool available on the commission website at nyc.gov/districting.”

 

Since the commission released the first draft proposals of the 51 redrawn city council district maps on July 15, commission officials say 60,000 people have viewed the preliminary maps, which are available on the commission’s website at nyc.gov/districting, and 500 people have testified in person, by zoom, or email during the first round of public hearings. The latest Bronx hearing, held at Hostos Community College, can be watched here.

 

The city’s population grew from 8.2 million in 2010 to 8.8 million in 2020, according to the census, an increase the size of the city of Detroit. To reflect this growth, and bring the City in line with federal, State, and local laws the new preliminary maps raises the average number of residents per City Council district from 160,710 to 172,882. These population parameters are built into DistrictR.

 

As reported, the New York City Districting Commission published the “NYC Districting Commission 101 Primer” on June 21. The 16-page primer explains the process, covering everything from the U.S. Constitution to the U.S. census, and the Charter of the City of New York.

 

Officials said the primer also includes the “2022 Five Percent Deviation Guide” that commission mapmakers are using to draw the new 51 city council maps. The city’s population grew by 630,000 people based on the 2020 Census count, and now totals 8.8 million people. Under the one-person, one-vote doctrine of the U.S. constitution, the 51 city council maps must be redrawn with a new average population of 173,631 residents per city council district.

 

The Five Percent Deviation Guide shows the current deviation of each of the 51 city council districts from the new average per district. For example, one district has a 20.3 percent deviation, while another has a negative 10 percent deviation. Commission chair Dennis Walcott said of the city redistricting process, “We’ve had so much interest from the public at our hearings, we decided to do more outreach.”

 

He added, “Over time, we hope that the primer and deviation guide become tools to encourage New Yorkers to engage in the process, including and especially, submitting their own testimony about the drawing of the 51 new city council maps.”

Meanwhile, as reported, the CUNY Graduate Center has launched a “Redistricting & You” online map focused on the NYC Council districts, similar to what the center recently created for the New York State and congressional redistricting process. The link to the City maps can be found at: https://nyc.redistrictingandyou.org/.

 

Just like with the New York State and congressional maps, the website enables the public to quickly determine their current City Council district, view helpful information about each district and now also see how the proposed district plans will impact them.

 

The NYC Redistricting & You site shows the current City Council districts, as well as the draft plans proposed by NYC Districting Commission. CUNY officials said if any outside stakeholders submit proposals for new council districts, the center will add those to the site so that the public can easily compare the current and proposed lines.

 

Members of the public can click on the map or enter an address to select any district. Redistricting & You displays information such as the relevant city council district’s 2020 population, deviation from the citywide district average population, voting age population by race/Hispanic origin, vote results from the 2021 mayoral election, and voter enrollment statistics.

 

Click here to see an example for District 11 City Council District 11 in The Bronx. The district’s population is just over 4 percent below the citywide average district population, meaning the district boundaries will need to expand to include more people per the new State law that applies to NYC. Attached also are two static maps that show the population deviation patterns across the City for the current city council districts, as well as the population changes from 2010 to 2020 by city council district.

 

Also available on the Redistricting & You site, members of the public can add map overlays to show local voting age population or enrollment patterns within each district and across the City.