VTMBH Article: Body
A New York State Senate redistricting map intended to preserve a Republican majority will divide Jewish communities and put the seats of six incumbent Jewish Democrats at risk, opponents say.
From the Russian Jewish enclave of South Brooklyn to the modern Orthodox world on Manhattan's Upper West Side to the heavily Jewish area of Forest Hills, Queens, Jewish activists worry that the plan would fragment Jewish communities by carving them up into new districts.
Among the loudest voices protesting the plan is the Russian Jewish community in Brooklyn. They claim the new districts would dilute the community's burgeoning voting power by merging the Brighton Beach neighborhood, which has the largest population of Russian Jews in America, into a new district with three largely minority neighborhoods.
The Russian-speaking community in South Brooklyn is being disenfranchised, said Oleg Gutnick, a Republican and special assistant to Governor George Pataki who narrowly lost a city council race in Brighton Beach last fall. That race, featuring three Russian Jewish immigrant candidates, was considered a political coming-of-age for the city's Russian immigrants.
Activists are concerned that the new State Senate map would nip Russian voting clout in the bud. "We showed that we do have some political power. This redistricting will cut off all our hopes for the future," said Inna Arolovich, the chairwoman of the New York chapter of the American Association of Jews from the Former USSR. She is organizing busloads of Russian immigrants to protest the plan at a hearing at Brooklyn Borough Hall on March 8.
A state legislative task force drafted the redistricting plan after the 2000 Census, with the stated aim of preserving the Republican majority in the State Senate while protecting the rights of minority voters under the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
"The lines were drawn to try to protect the rights of minority voters," said a spokesman for the State Senate, Mark Hansen. If people disagree and have concerns, then thats why there will be public hearings.
The plan is expected to see several rounds of public hearings and lawsuits before it is approved.
In Brooklyn, the plan would merge Brighton Beach, Sheepshead Bay and Manhattan Beachpredominantly white and Jewish areas that are now part of State Senator Carl Kruger's districtwith predominantly Caribbean and African-American areas in State Senator John Sampson's district.
Both Kruger and Sampson want to preserve their original districts. We are tearing apart communities in some distorted view of developing districts that are completely disrespectful of community boundaries, said Mr. Kruger, a Jewish Democrat. In the process of doing that, the largest Jewish community in Brooklyn is being torn apart.
Mr. Kruger is helping to mobilize the Russian community to protest the plan.
Mr. Sampson, an African-American Democrat, also opposed the plan, as do African-American community activists. We're satisfied with the job our State Senator is doing. Why chop it up and put together two communities that might not even be fighting for the same issues? said Gordy Brazela, president of the Friends United Black Association of Canarsie.
Citing population growth, the Legislative Task Force has also proposed a new inland State Senate district. It would merge the predominantly Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods of Boro Park and West Flatbush with the more Italian, Republican enclave of Bensonhurst. Analysts say it would give Republicans a strong chance of winning. Orthodox voters have elected both Republicans and Democrats in recent years.
The district would encompass about half of the current district of State Senator Seymour Lachman, who said that he planned to run in the new district if there are no major revisions in the proposed district lines.
There are people who say this plan unfairly puts Jewish members of the state legislature in jeopardy, Lachman said. He said that there were ten Jewish members when he was elected six and a half years ago. "Now there's a possibility of it dropping down to four or five."
Kruger agreed. He said the new Brooklyn district, which would include parts of his former district, could ghettoize the Jewish community. "We'd find ourselves in the position where one person would be speaking for constituencies where we have learned as Jews that when the more people speak for us, the louder our voices, Kruger said.
Conversely, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, Orthodox activists are upset at a plan that would parcel the community among three districts.
As a community we feel disenfranchised, said Michael Landau, the chairman of the Council of Orthodox Jewish Organizations of the West Side. Landau, who is a Republican, is fighting to preserve Democratic Senator Eric Schneiderman's district. It makes no logical sense to completely split a community, Landau said. He said it was inefficient to have three representatives instead of one.
In Queens, some Jewish activists are worried about a plan that would combine the districts of two Jewish Democratic State Senators: Daniel Hevesi, whose district includes parts of the heavily Jewish Forest Hills neighborhood, and Toby Ann Stavisky.
To the extent that youre packed in one district you might have less influence in a given area, said Cory Bearak, the executive vice president of the Queens Jewish Community Council.
Meanwhile, State Senator Martin Connor is protesting a plan that would remove the Hasidic enclave of Williamsburg, Brooklyn from his current district.
Jewish activists in the five boroughs say theyre not concerned about a redistricting plan in the state Assembly, where Democrats have the majority. However, upstate Republicans have protested the plan, which they say pits them against each other in traditional GOP strongholds.
The counties encompassing Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx are the only three in the state to fall under the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which states that they must create or maintain a certain number of minority districts. The Justice Department has to sign off on the plan to insure that minorities are left in the same or a stronger position.
From the Russian Jewish enclave of South Brooklyn to the modern Orthodox world on Manhattan's Upper West Side to the heavily Jewish area of Forest Hills, Queens, Jewish activists worry that the plan would fragment Jewish communities by carving them up into new districts.
Among the loudest voices protesting the plan is the Russian Jewish community in Brooklyn. They claim the new districts would dilute the community's burgeoning voting power by merging the Brighton Beach neighborhood, which has the largest population of Russian Jews in America, into a new district with three largely minority neighborhoods.
The Russian-speaking community in South Brooklyn is being disenfranchised, said Oleg Gutnick, a Republican and special assistant to Governor George Pataki who narrowly lost a city council race in Brighton Beach last fall. That race, featuring three Russian Jewish immigrant candidates, was considered a political coming-of-age for the city's Russian immigrants.
Activists are concerned that the new State Senate map would nip Russian voting clout in the bud. "We showed that we do have some political power. This redistricting will cut off all our hopes for the future," said Inna Arolovich, the chairwoman of the New York chapter of the American Association of Jews from the Former USSR. She is organizing busloads of Russian immigrants to protest the plan at a hearing at Brooklyn Borough Hall on March 8.
A state legislative task force drafted the redistricting plan after the 2000 Census, with the stated aim of preserving the Republican majority in the State Senate while protecting the rights of minority voters under the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
"The lines were drawn to try to protect the rights of minority voters," said a spokesman for the State Senate, Mark Hansen. If people disagree and have concerns, then thats why there will be public hearings.
The plan is expected to see several rounds of public hearings and lawsuits before it is approved.
In Brooklyn, the plan would merge Brighton Beach, Sheepshead Bay and Manhattan Beachpredominantly white and Jewish areas that are now part of State Senator Carl Kruger's districtwith predominantly Caribbean and African-American areas in State Senator John Sampson's district.
Both Kruger and Sampson want to preserve their original districts. We are tearing apart communities in some distorted view of developing districts that are completely disrespectful of community boundaries, said Mr. Kruger, a Jewish Democrat. In the process of doing that, the largest Jewish community in Brooklyn is being torn apart.
Mr. Kruger is helping to mobilize the Russian community to protest the plan.
Mr. Sampson, an African-American Democrat, also opposed the plan, as do African-American community activists. We're satisfied with the job our State Senator is doing. Why chop it up and put together two communities that might not even be fighting for the same issues? said Gordy Brazela, president of the Friends United Black Association of Canarsie.
Citing population growth, the Legislative Task Force has also proposed a new inland State Senate district. It would merge the predominantly Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods of Boro Park and West Flatbush with the more Italian, Republican enclave of Bensonhurst. Analysts say it would give Republicans a strong chance of winning. Orthodox voters have elected both Republicans and Democrats in recent years.
The district would encompass about half of the current district of State Senator Seymour Lachman, who said that he planned to run in the new district if there are no major revisions in the proposed district lines.
There are people who say this plan unfairly puts Jewish members of the state legislature in jeopardy, Lachman said. He said that there were ten Jewish members when he was elected six and a half years ago. "Now there's a possibility of it dropping down to four or five."
Kruger agreed. He said the new Brooklyn district, which would include parts of his former district, could ghettoize the Jewish community. "We'd find ourselves in the position where one person would be speaking for constituencies where we have learned as Jews that when the more people speak for us, the louder our voices, Kruger said.
Conversely, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, Orthodox activists are upset at a plan that would parcel the community among three districts.
As a community we feel disenfranchised, said Michael Landau, the chairman of the Council of Orthodox Jewish Organizations of the West Side. Landau, who is a Republican, is fighting to preserve Democratic Senator Eric Schneiderman's district. It makes no logical sense to completely split a community, Landau said. He said it was inefficient to have three representatives instead of one.
In Queens, some Jewish activists are worried about a plan that would combine the districts of two Jewish Democratic State Senators: Daniel Hevesi, whose district includes parts of the heavily Jewish Forest Hills neighborhood, and Toby Ann Stavisky.
To the extent that youre packed in one district you might have less influence in a given area, said Cory Bearak, the executive vice president of the Queens Jewish Community Council.
Meanwhile, State Senator Martin Connor is protesting a plan that would remove the Hasidic enclave of Williamsburg, Brooklyn from his current district.
Jewish activists in the five boroughs say theyre not concerned about a redistricting plan in the state Assembly, where Democrats have the majority. However, upstate Republicans have protested the plan, which they say pits them against each other in traditional GOP strongholds.
The counties encompassing Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx are the only three in the state to fall under the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which states that they must create or maintain a certain number of minority districts. The Justice Department has to sign off on the plan to insure that minorities are left in the same or a stronger position.