Letter: Eastern Queens has been carved up
Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, left, and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver Credit: TIMES UNION/SKIP DICKSTEIN
I agree with "Fairness should guide redistricting" [Editorial, Jan. 13]. Thirteen closely united civic associations and more than 200 interested residents of eastern Queens held a rally last month to back a newly formed coalition called Eastern Queens United. Its key concern is the issue of redistricting. Our area no longer will tolerate gerrymandering. We want cohesive boundaries that respect our community.
We are focusing on geographic features that help to define the 75,000 voters in Bellerose, Floral Park, Glen Oaks, New Hyde Park and Queens Village. We don't want our voices diluted by chopping up and slicing our community.
The proposed State Senate district maps are gerrymandered ["District lines may change," News, Jan. 31]. The proposed Assembly districts have not changed significantly, as we wished, although the 24th District seems to have been whittled down.
Our organization is particularly concerned about reuniting the present three Assembly districts that were carved up the last time redistricting was done. We are asking for one Assembly district.
It is obvious that what is foremost the legislature's Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment (LATFOR) is the retention of the incumbent seat rather than drawing a district representative of the character and uniqueness of the neighborhood and its needs. What a shame that legislative leaders did not heed good-government groups' call for an independent body to do this job impartially.
A letter-writing campaign is in the works for the key players: Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan). If everyone did their best to attend the LATFOR hearings in their county, perhaps legislative leaders would have to be concerned about what voters will do in the next election.
Virginia Salow, Bellerose
