Updated 01/26/2012 08:27 PM
Redistricting across New York State
A big day in Albany on Thursday as the new lines were drawn for the State Senate and Assembly districts. A state mandated law requires that lines are redrawn every 10 years to account for a population shift and ensure proportional representation. Capital Tonight's Nick Reisman has more.
To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.
Then come back here and refresh the page.
NEW YORK STATE -- The long-awaited proposals to redraw state Senate and Assembly boundaries are finally out. And reviews are harsh particularly for the redrawn Senate map which would grow from 62 seats to 63.
“When you have legislators drawing their own designer districts, this is the product that you get,” said Barbara Bartoletti, league of Women Voters Legislative Director.
New boundaries for state and federal offices must be redrawn every 10 years based on the latest Census data. The process has been decried by good government groups for being stacked in favor of incumbent parties. The theory is that by carving the state into enough of a jigsaw puzzle, the reigning parties stay in power. It's created some odd looking shapes, including one known as Abe Lincoln Riding a Vacuum. That's gone under the proposal, but this new one could be called The Flying Bat.
“They're using every trick in the book. They're drawing new districts where they don't belong. They're throwing Democrats in districts together,” State Senator Michael Gianaris said.
GOP Senator Mark Grisanti district would now be entirely in Erie County, which increases his chances of keeping the Conservative Party line, even though he voted for same-sex marriage. There's also a new Senate seat proposed for the Albany region carved out with areas that contain Republican voters. When viewed as a whole, the map shows a representation shift to Republican heavy upstate, which could help the party maintain control of the chamber.
“To take a district from Amsterdam to Kingston and to create a new district that upsets four counties particularly and violates both the Constitution and the state statutes to me is unconscionable,” said State Senator Neil Breslin.
Republicans defend the process, saying they've followed all state and federal laws. But at a news conference held prior to the lines being released, the governor said he still hoped for an independent process. That's a desire complicated by a recent Supreme Court ruling.
Cuomo said, “You know there are so many variables that I really don't think you can plot it out now. So my position is going to be to wait and see.”
Cuomo spokesman Josh Vlasto released a statement late in the day calling the lines unacceptable at first glance and that they would be vetoed.
Unlike last year when he threatened to investigate lawmakers unless they pass an ethics bill, Cuomo does not possess an apparent hammer to force the legislature's hand.
“If you think that I should go try to convince the legislators that it is not in their best interest to draw their own lines, maybe you could convince them of that. I don't possess those skills,” Cuomo said.