September 11 Digital Archive

Ridgewood doesnt want Brooklyn

Title

Ridgewood doesnt want Brooklyn

Source

born-digital

Media Type

article

Created by Author

yes

Described by Author

no

Date Entered

2002-11-29

VTMBH Article: Edition

45

VTMBH Article: Article Order

4

VTMBH Article: Title

Ridgewood doesnt want Brooklyn

VTMBH Article: Author

Marek Tomaszewski

VTMBH Article: Publication

Nowy Dziennik / Polish Daily News

VTMBH Article: Original Language

Polish

VTMBH Article: Translator

Lukas Bulka

VTMBH Article: Section

briefs

VTMBH Article: Blurb

VTMBH Article: Keywords

VTMBH Article: Body

A plan to cut out a part of Ridgewood in Queens, and attach it to Bushwick in Brooklyn, sparks a great deal of controversy among local residents. Its the death of the neighborhood, said State Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan during a hearing at Queens College.

Nolan was one of 40 people who spoke on the issue of redistricting. She believes that the implementation of the plan proposed in June by the New York City Districting Commission would have a negative impact on the neighborhood.

Reject these plans today, demanded Nolan, who represents Ridgewood in the state assembly. She reminded those at the hearing of a similar proposal that was turned down 10 years ago due to protests from residents.

If they assign us to Brooklyn, the residents of the redistricted area will pay more for car insurance and real estate and the value of their houses will decrease, Rev. Lukasz Trocha of St. Matthews Church in Ridgewood told Nowy Dziennik. He explained that Bushwick has a bad reputation, which results in higher costs paid by residents compared to those who live in calm neighborhoods such as Ridgewood.

My children will belong to a worse school district, noted Grazyna Wysocka from Ridgewood, who also attended the hearing at Queens College. She held a sign that read: Keep Ridgewood in Queens. Her colleague, Agnieszka Ambroziak, talked about how garbage collection would be less frequent, while Miroslawa Staskiewicz mentioned safety issues, as the Bushwick police precinct is located far away from South Ridgewood.

These are some of the reasons why the Polish women, and the many others who spoke at the Queens hearing, wish their neighborhood would be left alone.

There are 31,000 people living in the part of Ridgewood that is supposed to be cut out of Queens. Sixty percent are Hispanic, and others include: Yugoslavians, Romanians, Albanians, Asians, and around 2,500 Poles.

According to the City Charter of New York, the borders of the city districts should be redrawn after every Census. The Census takes place every 10 years.

As stated by the City Charter, the city is divided into 51 districts and each district is to have a corresponding number of council members. With more than 8.08 million people living in New York City, each district should have 157,025 people (margin of error: 5-10 percent). The need to come up with new district borders is because of demographic changes in the city. While the number of residents in certain neighborhoods decrease, and others increase, the number of voters in each district should remain similar.

VTMBH Article: Line Breaks

1

VTMBH Article: Date

2002-11-29

VTMBH Article: Thumb

VTMBH Article: Article File

VTMBH Article: Hit Count

95

Citation

“Ridgewood doesnt want Brooklyn,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed November 8, 2024, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/1421.