State Dems sue to block redistricting plan

ALBANY -- Senate Democrats sued in state court Tuesday to block creation of a new Senate seat by the task force drawing district lines.

The plaintiffs -- Sen. Martin Dilan (D-Brooklyn) and a group of citizens -- allege that the Senate majority Republicans violated the state constitution by using two methodologies to create a 63rd district to bolster their narrow hold on the chamber.

"They realized they wanted 63 and then they went back and manipulated the formula to get them to that number," said Sen. Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria), head of the Senate Democratic committee.

The proposed district lines were drawn by a legislative task force co-chaired by representatives from the majority party in each chamber.

Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) said Republicans would not promote the 63rd seat if they felt it was unconstitutional.

"I believe that these lines will be found fair and constitutional and will be held up if challenged in the courts," Skelos said Tuesday.

Michael Carvin, the Republican majority's outside counsel, said the suit was "meritless."

"We're using exactly the same methodology as last time," he said.

Gianaris said Democrats had documented how the changes were made and that long-standing court decisions backed up their arguments.

The state constitution of 1894 uses a complicated formula to calculate the number of Senate seats based on population and other criteria. At issue is how to deal with Nassau County, which was part of Queens in 1894, and Richmond (Staten Island) and Suffolk counties, which were a single Senate district at the time.

Critics of the proposed district lines say they are partisan and dilute minority votes. In Nassau Tuesday, nearly 100 people, most of them minorities, rallied against the lines and called on Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to carry through with a veto threat.

"Veto the lines," shouted Scottie Coads, a state NAACP official from Lakeview who helped organize the rally outside the Elmont law office of newly elected Democratic county legislator Carrié Solages.

"We're living in a period of gerrymandering that is unequaled and must be fought," said Lucius Ware, president of the Eastern Long Island NAACP.

Redistricting could tip the balance of the Senate, where Republicans have a 32-29 majority over Democrats, with one vacancy.

With Yancey Roy