On August 16, AABANY, through its Executive Director Yang Chen, gave testimony at a public hearing convened by the City Council Districting Commission. AABANY testified as a member of ACCORD, the Asian American Community Coalition on Redistricting and Democracy, and urged the Commission to draw lines that kept communities of interest together in Manhattan. Citing the Voting Rights Act and applicable Supreme Court precedent, AABANY indicated that the current district lines in Chinatown and the Lower East Side may not comport with legal requirements. As part of its testimony, AABANY submitted a copy of its March 2003 letter to the Department of Justice, which dealt with the same issue. To read the testimony and the letter, go to bit.ly/blog_Testimny_CityCnclDstrctngComm
Village Voice: Advocates Look Toward Next Redistricting Frontier: City Council Lines
Village Voice: Advocates Look Toward Next Redistricting Frontier: City Council Lines
Third article about ACCORD’s March 20 press conference. Here’s an excerpt:
ACCORD, along with other advocacy groups, has devoted a lot of its energy to the rapidly-growing Asian population in Queens, which has skyrocketed 300 times faster than the rest of the borough’s population over the last ten years. In this local redistricting process, Hong said he would like to see an increase in Asian-American majority Council districts in Queens.
Capital New York: Council Redistricting Bearing No Resemblance to Albany’s
Capital New York: Council Redistricting Bearing No Resemblance to Albany’s
Second of two articles reporting on ACCORD’s March 20 press conference at City Hall. Here’s an excerpt:
But as the fastest growing population in New York, the city’s Asian-American population is poised for the biggest gains. Originally focused on the state-level redistricting, a number of groups formed Asian-American Community Coalition on Redistricting and Democracy, or ACCORD, to address the concerns. Now looking at city council lines, members of ACCORD said that along with Flushing, already a majority-Asian district, Elmhurst and Sunset Park could potentially produce “Asian” districts.
Politicker: Minority Advocacy Organizations Set Sights On Next City Council Map
Politicker: Minority Advocacy Organizations Set Sights On Next City Council Map
Here’s the first of three articles that reported on ACCORD’s March 20 press conference on the steps of City Hall about ACCORD moving forward to the next phase of redistricting: City Council districts.
ACCORD: Press Release and Fact Sheet on City Council Redistricting
On the morning of Tuesday, March 20, AABANY joined ACCORD for a press conference on the steps of City Hall to urge the City Council to advance diversity and representation of communities of color in the City Council redistricting process. To read the press release go here. To read a Fact Sheet about City Council Redistricting go here.
ACCORD Statement on LATFOR’s Final Versions of State Senate and Assembly Maps
STATEMENT ON LATFOR’S FINAL VERSIONS OF STATE SENATE AND ASSEMBLY DISTRICTS
BY THE ASIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY COALITION ON REDISTRICTING
AND DEMOCRACY (ACCORD)
Late on Sunday, the NY state legislature introduced a bill containing slightly revised district plans for New York State Senate and New York State Assembly. Yesterday evening, the maps of these revised district plans were made public on the website belonging to the New York State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment (LATFOR).
LATFOR adopted some changes recommended by member organizations of the Asian American Community Coalition on Redistricting and Democracy (ACCORD). This comes after a second round of public hearings in February, in which ACCORD members commented on LATFOR’s initial proposals which were released on January 26th. Now, seeing the revised and final products, ACCORD notes important positive changes that reflect input given by the coalition.
- LATFOR’s final plan for senate and assembly can be seen here: http://www.latfor.state.ny.us/maps/
ON THE SENATE PLAN:
ACCORD members are pleased to see that specific improvements have been made to Senate District 16, the first majority Asian Senate district. While noting some positive changes that further improve upon the district, ACCORD remains critical of voter dilution from other Senate districts.
Senate District 16 is an important, complicated district. If adopted, it would be 53% Asian according to the 2010 Census. ACCORD has advocated for a majority Asian Senate district and the proposed district was LATFOR’s response to the coalition’s position. This final configuration of SD16 incorporates recommendations made by ACCORD members, including the following:
o More of Flushing has been included, though not wholly.
o Bay Terrace, the large gerrymandered area in the Northeast corner of the current and proposed SD16, has been removed and included in SD11.
o More of Elmhurst is now included.
Unfortunately, there are several significant problems, despite ACCORD’s strong recommendations to LATFOR in last month’s hearings.
– Foremost, this plan does not create a majority Asian Senate district in Queens that is anchored in Flushing and remains compact, contiguous and respects the various communities of interest in and around the Flushing/Bayside area. Specifically, Flushing remains divided between SD16 and SD11, and many Asian Americans living in Fresh Meadows are now excluded, although they were part of the initial maps.
– The Briarwood/Jamaica Hills area continues to be divided and micro-gerrymandered between SD11 and SD14.
– In Brooklyn, the massive Chinatown in Sunset Park and Bensonhurst will continue to be sharply divided, with the core of Sunset Park’s Asian American community being split/cracked almost down the middle. The plan uses 8th Avenue as an inappropriate boundary between two districts.
ON THE ASSEMBLY PLAN:
The districts covering the city’s Asian American communities of interest in the Assembly’s plan are largely unchanged. Our positions and comments remain the same.
The Asian American Community Coalition On Redistricting and Democracy (ACCORD) is a non-partisan coalition of organizations and individuals committed to advancing the opportunities of Asian Pacific American and minority communities to meaningfully participate in the political process. ACCORD recognizes that redistricting plays a pivotal and fundamental role in these opportunities, and supports redistricting plans that keep together communities of interest that exist in and around ethnic neighborhoods across New York.
ACCORD Statement on EDNY Proposed Maps
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 6, 2012
For more information, contact:
James Hong
718.460.5600
STATEMENT ON FEDERAL COURT’S PROPOSED MAPS
BY THE ASIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY COALITION ON REDISTRICTING
AND DEMOCRACY (ACCORD)
Earlier than expected, the magistrate tasked by the “Special Master” panel of federal judges to redraw Congressional lines released a proposal this morning. U.S. Congress is the highest level of government that is affected by redistricting. These lines will be adopted unless the majorities of the Senate and Assembly can come to an agreement and pass their own version of the Congressional maps that Cuomo will sign.
While there are some exceptions, for most Asian American communities of interest in New York City, the proposal is positive. In fact, there seems to be a strong acknowledgement of the Unity Map drawn by civil rights groups, including the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), and supported by ACCORD. ACCORD finds that this proposal, on the whole, is a clear improvement from the current Congressional lines – especially in Queens, where voter dilution in Northeast Queens has hampered the ability of our communities to have a voice in Congressional elections.
- The proposed lines can be seen here: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/06/judge-issues-congressional-redistricting-proposal
- The current lines can be seen here (click on “View Map links): http://www.govtrack.us/congress/findyourreps.xpd?state=NY
ACCORD has the following specific comments on significant areas for the Asian American community:
QUEENS:
· The proposed Congressional District (CD) 6, if adopted, would be a Congressional district with the highest concentration of Asian Americans ever created. At nearly 40% of the district (37.9%), the Asian American community of Northeast Queens would have major influence in a Congressional seat.
· This district is nearly identical to District 5 recommended in the Unity Map, drafted by AALDEF and endorsed by ACCORD (see http://aaldef.org/unity-map.html)
· The significant voter dilution of Asian American voters in Northeast Queens between the current CD 5 and CD 9 (Flushing, Bayside, Auburndale, Queensboro Hills, Fresh Meadows and Oakland Gardens) is corrected by this proposal.
· This proposed district also keeps together the neighborhoods of Woodside and Jackson Heights in CD 14.
· This proposal could be improved if Bellerose could be connected with Queens.
MANHATTAN AND BROOKLYN (including Manhattan’s Chinatown and Sunset Park):
· ACCORD is pleased that CD 7 recognizes (as does the current CD 12) there is a community of common interest between Sunset Park and Manhattan’s Chinatown, and keeps these together in one district.
· This district is very similar to the proposed District 12 in the Unity Map.
The Asian American Community Coalition On Redistricting and Democracy (ACCORD) is a non-partisan coalition of organizations and individuals committed to advancing the opportunities of Asian Pacific American and minority communities to meaningfully participate in the political process. ACCORD recognizes that redistricting plays a pivotal and fundamental role in these opportunities, and supports redistricting plans that keep together communities of interest that exist in and around ethnic neighborhoods across New York.
Times Union Editorial: Shame on you, legislators
Times Union Editorial: Shame on you, legislators
As a member of ACCORD, AABANY has been following developments in redistricting. Earlier this week, Magistrate Judge Roanne Mann (EDNY) released Congressional maps in connection with a pending case in Federal court, a little more than a week after being assigned the task. The Times Union editorial has some harsh words to say about the New York state legislature’s inability to draw fair and reasonable lines after working on maps for a year. You can read the full text of the editorial by following the link above. Here’s an excerpt:
THE RIDDLE:
How many legislators does it take to draw fair, nonpartisan maps?
THE ANSWER:
Trick question. They can’t.
It took the state Legislature the better part of a year to come up with new congressional district maps, and then, only with a court breathing down its neck. It took U.S. Magistrate Roanne Mann just eight days to do the same thing — and to do it, by most accounts, much better.
What do you think? Share your comments and reactions here.
Gotham Gazette: Immigrants for Redistricting Reform
Gotham Gazette: Immigrants for Redistricting Reform
The Gotham Gazette, published by the Citizen Union Foundation, published an article about redistricting and ACCORD’s role in it. AABANY is mentioned as a member of ACCORD.
Thanks for Coming to Fall Conference 2011: Diversify
Thanks to everyone who came to AABANY’s Second Annual Fall Conference on September 17, 2011, at Skadden. We are grateful for the hospitality of Skadden and its entire team for hosting us so well throughout the day. Special thanks go to our anchor sponsor Wells Fargo for its generous support. We thank also Sprint and Veritext as additional sponsors.
Thanks to our hard-working Committee Chairs and program organizers for bringing in some excellent speakers and moderators covering a diverse range of topics that truly defined what it means to “Diversify” as an attorney. Thanks to the Fall Conference Planning Committee for putting in long hours, participating in meetings and conference calls and doing all that was needed to pull off an event of this magnitude. Thanks to all the volunteers, mostly law students, who assisted tremendously in the smooth flow of everything from registration to checking attendees in and out of each program and making sure that everyone was getting proper CLE credit. Thanks to our AABANY Legal Interns, Melerie Shih and Hyunjoo Kim for running our BlackBerry PlayBook sweepstakes. Congratulations to Judy Tsang (@soapdishes) on winning the drawing for the PlayBook.
Thanks especially to everyone who registered to attend the Fall Conference. All told we had more than 210 attendees througout the day, from morning until evening.
During the luncheon, Sharon Hom, Executive Director of Human Rights in China, delivered inspiring and compelling remarks covering a wide range of subjects from Asian American attorneys to attorneys in China and the struggles and challenges that both have faced and continue to face. At the end of the luncheon, President Linda Lin announced the launch of the AABANY Law Review and introduced its first Editor-in-Chief Jen Yue Connor Yim. (Read the AABANY press release announcing the AABANY Law Review here.)
After the end of a long day, many of the attendees stayed for the cocktail reception. During the reception, James Hong, Civic Participation Coordinator at MinKwon Center, spoke about the work that MinKwon has been doing to mobilize the Asian American community in New York to engage in the re-districting process. MinKwon is the lead organization behind ACCORD (Asian American Community Coalition on Redistricting and Democracy) of which AABANY is a member.
Also during the cocktail reception, AABANY officially kicked off its inaugural Mentorship Program, with Julie Kwon, Mentorship Program Coordinator, introducing the program and inviting the first class of AABANY mentors and mentees to meet each other in person for the first time.
Fall Conference 2011: Diversify was a wonderful event, and it would not have been as successful without your involvement and participation. Thank you all for being a part of it. If you have any feedback, good, bad, big, small, please share it with us by emailing your comments to [email protected].