Redistricted Bronx lines for Senate and Assembly (UPDATE)

There's a handful of days that resemble Christmas morning for diehard political fans (filing days, primary elections, general elections), and this is one of those days. The first draft of the state Senate and Assembly lines have been released by the legislative task force (LATFOR).

We'll go through each one in separate posts, which will all be linked from here (and they are all available to download at LATFOR's website).

29th Senate-Jose Serrano Jr.
32nd Senate-Rev. Ruben Diaz
33rd Senate-Gustavo Rivera
34th Senate-Jeff Klein
36th Senate-Ruth Hassell-Thompson

As for the Assembly, you can look at the individual maps here, but I'm not going to both going through each one because there are 11 of them and they don't drastically change. However, I have been able to speak with Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, who briefly talked about his district and the Bronx as a whole:
81st Assembly-Jeffrey Dinowitz

If you love or hate these lines and want to tell LATFOR about it, Tuesday will be your chance.

And here are the citywide maps of both the Senate and Assembly:

There is mostly just minor adjustments for the Bronx Assembly districts. The biggest change is Peter Rivera's district would no longer be the 76th, it would now be the 87th. The new 76th ends up on the Upper East Side somehow. Oh LATFOR, you and your crazy ways.

Here's what the Assembly looks like now:

Jump below for the Update, the Senate lines, as well as a response blasting the Senate lines.

Proposed 36th Senate District, Ruth Hassell-Thompson

Here is LATFOR's redistricted lines for the 36th Senate District, occupied by Ruth Hassell-Thompson.

Her district is much more compact now, no longer weaving along the Bronx River Parkway.

And her district as it is now:

Proposed 34th Senate District, Jeff Klein

Here is LATFOR's redistricting of the 34th Senate District, occupied by Jeff Klein. This is one of the more drastic changes for the Bronx. Klein's Westchester portion has been nearly completely destroyed, but the district itself is now actually legal. A rule, that not many people know, does not allow districts to cross county lines in two separate places. Klein's district does that now, but under the proposed lines, his district would run through the Bronx and only goes to Westchester one time.

He gains the Hunts Point Market, all of Riverdale--which previously had three senators--Norwood, and actually makes the connection in the central Bronx. The massive additions in the Bronx, as we reported earlier this week, was to make room for Republicans to gain votes to help win the soon-to-be vacated 37th District in Westchester.

And here is what Klein's district looks like now:

Proposed 33rd Senate District, Gustavo Rivera

Here is LATFOR's redistricting of the 33rd state Senate District, occupied by Gustavo Rivera.

The biggest change is that he loses Jerome Park Reservoir and a significant portion of land all directly below Van Cortlandt Park. That area been taken by state Sen. Jeff Klein, who was pushed farther into the Bronx to give the soon-to-be vacated 37th District seat a better chance to win for Republicans.

Rivera's new district would run much farther south, now having a solid chunk below the Cross Bronx Expressway.

And here is what Rivera's district looks like now:

Proposed 32nd Senate district, Ruben Diaz Sr.

Here is LATFOR's redistrict of the Bronx's 31nd Senate District, currently occupied by Rev. Ruben Diaz Sr.

He loses some waterfront access to state Sen. Jeff Klein, whose district was pushed farther into the Bronx to give the soon-to-be vacant 37th District in Westchester more Republican support. He also loses the Hunts Point Market

And here is what Diaz's old district looked like:

Proposed Senate District 29, Jose Serrano Jr.

Here is LATFOR's proposed new district for state Sen. Jose Serrano Jr., who currently represents the 28th district. It appears that by adding a 63rd district, some people's district number has changed.

In terms of the Bronx, just some minor adjustments it looks like. But he does pick up some prime real estate in Central Park. Enjoy having one of the most economically diverse districts on the planet, Jose.

And here is his district as it is now:

From one amigo to another: Diaz Sr. wants to hand over power to the IDC to regain Senate control

Diaz would like to see the Senate Democrats hand over
leadership positions to the IDC to help regain the majority.

State Sen. Rev. Ruben Diaz Sr. really brought it this time with his "What you should know" essay.

He says the Democrats in the state senate should give state Sen. Jeff Klein and the rest of his Independent Democratic Conference members leadership positions if they agree to come back to the Democratic Party.

They should start negotiating right away with Senator Jeff Klein and his three Independent Members – even to the point, if necessary, for the New York State Senate to transfer Senator Klein’s leadership position and the leadership positions of his Members to the Democratic Conference.

Everyone needs to put aside all personal differences – and pride – and do with Senator Klein and his Members as was done with Pedro Espada when the Democrats wanted him back.

Diaz, as most remember, was one of the 'four amigos' that held the Democratic Conference hostage in 2009 after jumping to the Republican side. They only returned after they were given leadership positions, with head honcho Pedro Espada Jr. becoming Majority Leader. 

Diaz won't have the full support of his fellow Dems, however. A Democratic senate insider tells us that they will not be toyed with like they were with the Amigos. 

"Senator Diaz does not speak for his colleagues," the source said. "We will not allow the Democratic Conference or the state Senate to be taken hostage by another four amigos who care more about power than they do about the future of New York State."

A message was left with the IDC's spokesman as of Wednesday evening. 

Jump below for Diaz's full statement (the bold is his):

Bill to legalize using City buildings for religion

For our consideration, state Sen. Rev. Ruben Diaz has passed along the bill that would allow houses of worship to use schools and NYCHA buildings for religious meetings and worship. I thought I'd pass it along further.

This bill has hit the spotlight after City Councilman Fernando Cabrera was arrested last week with six other pastors while they were protesting against the status quo.

It has been introduced into the Senate by Sen. Martin Golden and so far cosponsored by Diaz and six other senators. "We are working very hard to get more senators to sign onto this bill," Diaz said.

The bill is sponsored in the Assembly by Bronx Assemblyman Nelson Castro.

SUMMARY:
S6087  GOLDEN   Same as A 8800  Castro (MS) 
GOLDEN, DIAZ, GALLIVAN, LANZA, LIBOUS, MAZIARZ, SMITH, ZELDIN
Amd S414, Ed L
Authorizes the use of school buildings and school sites for religious meetings and worship when not in use for school purposes or when such service or worship is deemed not disruptive of normal school operations.

---

SPONSORS MEMO:

NEW YORK STATE SENATE
INTRODUCER'S MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT
submitted in accordance with Senate Rule VI. Sec 1

BILL NUMBER: S6087

SPONSOR: GOLDEN              

TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the education law, in relation to authorizing religious

meetings and worship in school buildings and school sites

PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

The purpose of the bill is to authorize the use of school buildings and

school sites for religious meetings and worship when not in use for

school purposes.

SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends the opening paragraph and paragraph (c) of subdivision

1 of section 414 of the education law, the opening paragraph as amended

by chapter 369 of the laws of 1977 and paragraph (c) as amended by chap-

ter 345 of the laws of 2009, are amended to include:

The City of New York and community school boards and;

A provision that allows religious meetings to include, but not limited

to: meetings, services, and worship.

JUSTIFICATION:

This bill would prevent school districts from excluding groups from

meeting on school property because of the religious content or viewpoint

of their speech, including allowing religious worship services.

Currently, State Education Law allows for social, civic and recreational

meetings and entertainment on school property, as well as other uses

pertaining to the welfare of the community. State law further holds that

such meetings, entertainment and uses shall be nonexclusive and shall be

open to the general public. However, certain groups or organizations are

not always allowed to hold the types of meetings seemingly envisioned

herein, including those with religious content or viewpoints.

For example, several years ago, a U.S. appeals court ruled that the

Bronx Household of Faith church ("Bronx Household"), based in New York

City, was not permitted to use space in a Bronx public middle school for

its Sunday morning worship service. Since then, however, the United

States Supreme Court ruled in Good News Club vs. Milford Central School

that it was unconstitutional for a public school district in upstate New

York to exclude from its facilities "a private Christian organization

for children;u and the Supreme Court further held in the Good News Club

case that "by denying the club access to the school's limited public

forum on the ground that the club was religious in nature, Milford

discriminated against the club because of its religious viewpoint in

violation of the free speech clause.

In light of Milford, Bronx Household re-petitioned the U.S. appeals

court, which again upheld the school's policy banning the use of its

space for religious worship services, reasoning that "While the conduct

of religious services undoubtedly includes expressions of a religious

point of view, it is not the expression of that point of view that is

prohibited by the rule. Prayer, religious expression of devotion to God,

and the singing of hymns, whether done by a person or group, do not

constitute the conduct of worship services. These activities are not

excluded.

Groups like Bronx Household should be allowed to hold and conduct such

meetings, even in the event that such meetings include religious content

or views in their speech, so long as these meetings are open to the

general public. Some school districts have excluded groups and have

thereby acted to regulate free speech and the conduct of such members of

the public, potentially in violation of the First Amendment to the

Constitution of the United States. This bill seeks to protect such

organizations from these actions.

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

(Unknown)

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None to the state.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

This act shall take effect immediately.

Senate leaders remarks today

Here are the remarks made today by Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos at Gov. Andrew Cuomo's State of the State, and Senate Minority Leader John Sampson during the first Senate session of the 2012.

Let's see how they do this year, in terms of fulfilling promises and running an efficient government this year.

Skelos:



Sampson: