Dear John,
I want to start out by acknowledging a terrible tragedy in our community. Another pedestrian was hit and killed just outside our district last week. I am heartbroken and deeply frustrated by the number of tragedies that have led to so many deaths and injuries in the area. Reckless driving is one of the top issues neighbors share with my office, and I am committed to continuing to make street safety my top priority. In response, I have reached out to DOT to conduct a study on the area, as well as asked the NYPD’s 70th Precinct for an update on the investigation. Our office has been in touch with Community Board 14, Council Member Rita Joseph’s office, and Assembly Member Bobby Carroll’s office regarding this incident, and we will continue to share updates with our constituents as we learn more.
Now for your updates:
- District lines are changing in the coming year - learn more about what District 39 will look like in the future below.
- To ensure the City’s 56 Points of Agreement are followed in the Gowanus Neighborhood Plan, the Oversight Task Force has opened up applications to join the committee! The Task Force will help ensure these commitments are met efficiently and equitably so please apply today. Applications are due November 30th by 8pm.
Redistricting Deep Dive
Every ten years, our nation conducts a census as mandated by the constitution. The census is an incredibly important process for data collection and service distribution, but most importantly it impacts district lines from Congress, to the State legislature, to our City Council. Each level of government is divided into legislative seats that ideally (emphasis on ideally) have districts of equal population. The census lets our government know where populations have grown, shrunk, or changed, and so district lines change every ten years as a reflection of that data.
In New York City, in a process laid out by our City’s Charter, a 15-person Districting Commission is appointed, with eight seats by the Council and seven by the Mayor, tasked with drawing new district lines. The goal of the Commission is to remove partisan politics from the process and focus on drawing district lines that accurately reflect population and demographic changes in the City. Over the past 10 years, our City saw modest growth from 2010 (gaining about 600,000 people overall), with every borough seeing growth but some more than others. This means some boroughs will see their districts get bigger, and others may get smaller. Each district in the City has around 170,000 people, and there are strict requirements on sizing to avoid gerrymandering (you can see more on this fun interactive map here). In District 39, we’re seeing some small changes from the last district lines. In the northern half, the border will change from Sackett to Bergen and from 16th Street to 9th Street. There have also been some border changes in Kensington that can be better seen in the maps below.
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Our new and old district lines!
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Now, while our City’s process is designed to rise above the political fray, it doesn’t always play out that way. Lobbying from the Mayor killed prior map iterations in an attempt to get district lines more favorable to his allies and less favorable to his enemies. While our district remains mostly the same through the redistricting process, it is clear through this year’s political drama that the Commission still needs future reforms to be fully insulated from political lobbying. The redistricting process should be first and foremost focusing on empowering people and drawing lines that make our democracy more accessible, not less.
But this wasn’t a passive process for Council Members like myself. I was involved in strong advocacy with many members of the Kensington community to try and ensure our South Asian community was united in the new district lines. Far too often in our City, district lines are drawn to divide ethnic enclaves in an attempt to weaken the political power of some groups in favor of others. As many of you might know, the South Asian community in Kensington is currently split into Council Districts 39, 40, 44, and 45, with the newly adopted maps doing little to remedy that situation, and in fact, the original proposal made the situation even worse. However, thanks to hours of public testimony and organizing, we were able to get the Commission to adopt new lines that better empower the Kensington community. This process is far from perfect, but I am grateful to all of the community and advocacy organizations that helped to make these district lines fairer for our neighbors in Kensington.
3K For All
This week, news broke that the Adam’s administration planned to cut the expansion of the historic universal 3K program. We don’t have all the details yet, but my team is expecting to review budget documents shortly, which will lay out the exact dollar amount that would be cut. The Mayor is claiming this isn’t a “cut” but more of an elimination of an expansion and savings of unused seats in the program currently. This is a lie. The program was always designed to be expanded, and we know the unfilled seats could easily be filled with better outreach and through reallocating resources. I’ll be joining advocates and allied Council Members this Tuesday to rally against these planned cuts and will keep you updated with new information.
This is just the latest in the Mayor’s long assault on our public school system, and we’ve fought back every step of the way. From our work demanding the DOE take timely action to support Early Childhood Development Centers and staff impacted by the agencies’ latest layoffs to our advocacy around ensuring critical early childhood instructional coordinators (ICs) and social workers (SWs) were kept at their schools. But this fight is not over. We understand how critical early childhood services are for children and families, and how important it is that we prioritize our early childhood providers and workers whose tireless efforts have kept our centers running over the tough years of the pandemic. We welcome you to join us in this fight on Tuesday!
Community Bulletin
- Our office will be closed this Thursday, 11/24 and Friday, 11/25! You can still reach out over email or phone, and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.
- This Monday at 10:00 AM, the Education Committee is holding an oversight hearing on school bus transportation! You can sign up to testify virtually here.
- The Animal Care Center has an urgent need for adopters, fosters, & volunteers. Abandoned pets are at an all-time high, and the shelter is over capacity! Consider helping some of our most vulnerable furry friends on the Emergency Placement List.
- The ice skating rinks at the LeFrak Center at Lakeside are now open daily, with timed tickets available for purchase in advance!
- November is both National Family Caregiver month and Alzheimer's Awareness month. For those who care for someone with dementia or Alzheimers: check out Sunnyside Community Services Caregiver Wellness Program by calling 877- 577-9337 or emailing [email protected].
- Get involved and give back this Thanksgiving season! Check out the volunteer opportunities and events below. If you are not able to volunteer for Thanksgiving this year, please consider putting forward a contribution to support the impactful work of these organizations.
- Deliver Thanksgiving feasts with God’s Love We Deliver on Thanksgiving morning. Opportunities are available in every borough.
- Drop off a home-made Thanksgiving dish at CHiPS this week for their daily lunch-time serving. They’re serving over 200 meals a day and seeing a 35% increase in guests, many of whom are migrant women. RSVP here.
- The New York State Council on the Arts has opened applications for capital improvement grants for arts organizations across the state. A total of $150 million in funding is available. Small and mid-sized groups can apply for up to $2 million, while large groups can be awarded grants between $2 and $10 million. NYSCA will conduct webinars and virtual office sessions to assist applicants before the 1/12/23 deadline.
- NYC Solar Schools Education Program, a partnership between the NYC Department of Education’s Office of Sustainability and Solar One, provides 3rd to 12th-grade teachers with virtual and in-person professional learning, climate change and renewable energy curriculum, free classroom materials, and more! Program details and registration for NYS Solar Schools Education Program can be found at this link.
- Nominate an outstanding teacher for a $25,000 FLAG Award for Teaching Excellence. FLAG recognizes one teacher from each borough with a $25,000 prize, plus another $10,000 award for the school that they teach at. Students, parents of students, colleagues, and school administrators are encouraged to nominate teachers here by the 12/2 deadline.
- The Bergen Bike Train now holds riding sessions WEEKLY with families and young people. The route follows Bergen St from Rockaway Avenue at 7:15 AM to Court Street by 8 AM. Participants can hop on and off according to convenience. They have a live web tracker for families to track their progress that functions weekly during the rides at bergenbiketrain.glitch.me.
- The Windsor Terrace Food Coop is now open to non-members on select days! Stop by on Thursdays from 3 - 8 PM, Fridays from 9:30 AM - 7 PM, or Saturdays from 10 AM to 4 PM to pick up affordable produce and good food in our community.
In Solidarity,
Shahana
P.S. The newsletter will be off next week for Thanksgiving but we’ll be back December 4th! Take care, and I hope many of you are spending time with friends and family this holiday season.
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