New state district map serves both parties

Upon seeing the creepy, kooky shape on this brand-new map, an alert political pro dubbed the proposed 12th Assembly District "Morticia's dress."

This district, as drawn by the usual legislative task force, would place incumbent Andrew Raia (R-East Northport) in a super-skinny, north-south corridor, bulging a bit here and there as it runs vertically from Long Island Sound down to Babylon Cove.

To the surprise of absolutely nobody, the proposal of the legislative districts task force, if adopted, would serve the partisan political purposes of the Assembly's Democratic majority and of the Senate's Republican majority.

Of the two houses, the Senate is much more in play. GOP Leader Dean Skelos of Rockville Centre holds a bare minimum majority of 32. This plan would increase total seats in the upper house from 62 to 63, with Skelos seeking to add a Republican district in the Capital Region.

Anti-gerrymander reformers, losing their battle as usual, may want to look at the bright side here. Any odd number kills the chance for a post-election 31-31 tie between the major parties for control of the state Senate.

If you think that's trivial, just recall the chaos of 2009 when the party counts were tied for a while.

But to Bill Samuels of the nonprofit New Roosevelt Initiative -- one of the more determined voices for independent redistricting -- Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo must act swiftly if progress is to be made. The governor has vowed to veto any plan deemed a gerrymander, but the question remains what will follow.

"With . . . [the task force's] plans out, the governor should say yes or no," Samuels said. "If he believes these maps are acceptable, he should say yes now, and move on. If it is a no, he should immediately appoint his own advisory commission, like on Medicaid, so that we see an alternative plan that would be acceptable to the governor."

For the moment, Cuomo, whose hard-bargained agreements with lawmakers highlighted his first year in office, trumpets reform less loudly than he did for same-sex marriage and other issues. One native Southerner even said: "Sounds like he's crawfishin' " -- as in, scuttling backward.

"I'm going to let the process play out," Cuomo told reporters in Albany Thursday. "A lot of people have a lot of ideas, some of the good-government people have ideas. . . . My point all along has been that I want a better product and a better process and a reformed process at the end of the day. Between here and there, I can't tell you how it happens."

For now we have the task-force maps, unsettled primary dates, likely lawsuits and back-channel talks.

The proposed Senate lines put Queens Democrats Anthony Avella and Toby Stavisky in one district. No shock there either. Last election, Avella unseated veteran GOP Sen. Frank Padavan.

Same stuff, different decade.