Carolyn Maloney, who represents the 12th Congressional District, at Community Board 2 in January 2020. The 12th Congressional District will no longer cover any portion of Queens. (Photo: Queens Post)
May 16, 2022 By Christian Murray
The new congressional maps were released Monday and while Queens is likely to remain blue, many voters—particularly in the western portion of the borough—are likely to find themselves in new districts with new leaders to choose from.
A draft of the revised maps was released today that was put together by a special master appointed by Steuben County Judge Patrick McAllister. McAllister rejected the maps that were produced by state Democrats last month and appointed Jonathan Cervas, a redistricting expert based at Carnegie Mellon University, to replace them.
While most of the attention has been placed on the revised maps increasing the Republican party’s chances of nabbing more seats, the changes to Queens are not insignificant.
The 12th Congressional District, which is currently represented by Carolyn Maloney, will no longer include Long Island City and sections of Astoria. The 12th district will focus solely on Manhattan, with it including all of Midtown and both the Upper West and Upper East sides.
Congressional District 12. The existing map is on the left and the map drawn by the special master is on the right. The map drawn by the special master cuts out all of Queens and Brooklyn (Source: REDISTRICTING & YOU: New York)
Long Island City residents will find themselves in the 7th Congressional district, which is currently represented by Nydia Velazquez. Sunnyside residents will also find themselves in the 7th District, no longer part of the 14th District which is represented by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Rep. Nydia Velazquez, who represents the 7th District of New York
The 14th District will include a large chunk of Astoria but Sunnyside, Woodside and much of Jackson Heights will be gone. The district will still cover East Elmhurst, Corona and College Point.
Jackson Heights and Woodside are going to be part of the 6th District currently represented by Grace Meng. Meng, however, will lose her eastern flank– with Bayside becoming part of the 3rd Congressional District, which is currently represented by Tom Suozzi.
Meanwhile, the 5th Congressional District will include more of Ozone Park and Richmond Hill, but will not go as far east as Nassau County. The district is currently represented by Democrat Gregory Meeks.
The public will have until Wednesday to provide input on the new maps, and the final maps are due Friday, according to City&State New York.
The maps produced by state Democrats, according to pundits, favored Democrats in 22 of the state’s 26 districts. The new maps drawn by Cervas have created eight competitive districts.
Congressional District 7. The existing map is on the left and snakes its way through Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens. The new map drawn by the special master is on the right (Source: REDISTRICTING & YOU: New York)
Congressional District 14. The existing map is on the left, with the revised map to the right. The revised map cuts out Sunnyside, Woodside and most of Jackson Heights (Source: REDISTRICTING & YOU: New York)
Congressional District 6. The existing map is to the left, with the revised map to the right. The revised map includes Woodside and most of Jackson Heights, but no longer includes Bayside (Source: REDISTRICTING & YOU: New York)
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One Comment
The Congressional District spanning from Westchester to Queens and Nassau County makes no sense. If you cannot travel throughout the district by public transportation and by car, then the district should not exist.