Governor Cuomo and legislative leaders, 2013 (photo: Governor's Office)

Democrats in New York are stinging from a rough 2022 election showing in which they lost several congressional seats to Republicans, potentially costing the party control of the U.S. House of Representatives. As they assign blame, many have pointed to a tumultuous redistricting precipitated by a broken state process, state legislative leaders who overreached in trying to draw overly partisan lines, a Court of Appeals that ruled in favor of Republicans, and former Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo, whose

The Mayor & City Council (photo: John McCarten/NYC Council)

In a near-unanimous vote, the New York City Districting Commission voted on Thursday to send its latest plan for redrawing the 51 City Council districts to the Council for its review. The Council now has three weeks to either approve the map or reject it and send it back to the Commission with proposed changes. 

The Commission’s latest proposal made few major changes to a proposed map that a majority of members ...

The NYC Districting Commission at a hearing (photo: @DistrictingNYC)

[Update: On October 6, the Districting Commission passed, by near-unanimous vote, a new City Council map very similar to the one it previously voted down, as discussed in the story below. That map now goes to the City Council for review.]

New York City's redistricting process

Districting Commission Chair Dennis Walcott (photo: New York City Council)

In an 8-7 vote, the New York City Districting Commission on Thursday rejected its latest proposal to redraw the city’s 51 Council districts, sending the electoral map back to the drawing board.

After months of analysis and more than 9,000 submissions from the public, the 15-member commission could not find consensus on redefining City Council district lines to accommodate population shifts shown in the 2020

City Council members at City Hall (photo: John McCarten/NYC Council Media Unit)

The New York City Districting Commission tasked with redrawing the city's 51 Council districts is expected to vote on a new draft map on Thursday, marking one of the last stages in the city's controversial redistricting process.

The new map, which was first reported on by the New York Times and previewed by Gotham Gazette on Tuesday, addresses some of the biggest points of contention

In the State Legislature (photo: NYS Senate Media Services)

Governor Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders did not intend to hand map-drawing power to the courts when, in 2012, they hashed out a state constitutional amendment that recast the decennial redistricting process. Nor did they envision, after months of contentious public debate and closed-door negotiations, that the first pass at the new system would result in a hastily-organized, bifurcated election season with two major primaries taking place separately in a single summer.

...

Commissioners hold a public hearing of the NYC Districting Commission (photo: @DistrictingNYC)

This month, the commission tasked with redrawing the 51 New York City Council districts is set to unveil a second and potentially final map following a process that has unfolded behind closed doors to a significant degree.

The New York City Districting Commission has been working since March on the new map, which must be redrawn each decade after the U.S. Census to account for population shifts. Those lines must be finalized by the end of this year and will be in place for the 2023 elections, where all 51 City

Dennis Walcott (photo: Spencer Tucker/Mayor's Office)

September 1, 2022 - Max Politics Podcast: Dennis Walcott on New York City Council Redistricting

Dennis Walcott, Chair of the New York City Districting Commission, joined the show to discuss the commission's ongoing work to draw new City Council districts, as mandated after each U.S. Census.

Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You can listen to the show through the embedded audio below or download the episode wherever

A portion of the Unity Map proposal for new City Council districts

Last month, the New York City Districting Commission released a preliminary map of new City Council district lines, redrawing boundaries across the city based on population changes enumerated in the 2020 Census. Uproar quickly ensued over several of the major changes in the draft maps for the 51 City Council districts across the five boroughs.

In Brooklyn, the commission proposed a new Asian American majority district that could award political power to a growing constituency — what the commission itself deemed an “Asian opportunity district”

State Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris (photo: NYS Senate Photography)

New York State Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris has been a key figure in the Democratic takeover of the State Senate, and thus all of state government as of 2019, and in negotiating budget and legislative decisions on a wide variety of issues. That has included state action to counteract recent decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court on abortion rights and New York’s gun laws.

Gianaris, a Queens Democrat who represents the 12th State Senate District, has also been taking on New York’s highest court, the Court of

City Council members at City Hall (photo: John McCarten/NYC Council Media Unit)

Unlike the fight over new state legislative and congressional district maps, which focused on partisan lines earlier this year, the effort to redraw New York City's 51 City Council districts has become a battle defined by incumbency and ethnicity.

Last Friday, the New York City Districting Commission released a

Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris (photo: NYS Senate Photography)

July 12, 2022 - Max Politics Podcast: Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris on the Court of Appeals, Gun Control, & More

State Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris, a Queens Democrat, joined the show to discuss upheaval at the New York Court of Appeals, redistricting, bail reform, gun control, the upcoming State Senate elections, and more.

Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You can listen to the

State Senator Alessandra Biaggi

State Senator Alessandra Biaggi, a progressive Democrat, garnered national attention after announcing her run in the new 17th Congressional District of New York against Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, who chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and currently represents the 18th district. Both districts are north of New York City in the Hudson Valley.

All of New York’s congressional and state legislative districts were just redrawn in a mandatory decennial process based on new Census information. It got particularly messy in New York, which is

Latino leaders at the Dominican Day parade (photo: William Alatriste/City Council)

Former New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and Lucia Gomez, the political director of the New York City Central Labor Council, joined host Eli Valentin on this episode of the Latino Vote podcast to share insights on the recently-completed 2022 redistricting process in New York and what it may mean for Latino political power.

New York City Council Districts

As New York wades through a chaotic congressional and state redistricting cycle, a new law could significantly alter the process for redrawing New York City's 51 City Council districts, which began earlier this month.

The city's Districting Commission must contend with population increases in almost every City Council district and an overall influx of roughly 630,000 residents citywide since the last post-Census redistricting cycle ten years ago. This year, commissioners also have to adhere to a new state law limiting the amount each district's population can

City Council chambers (photo: William Alatriste/City Council)

The New York City Council is set to kick off the process of redrawing the boundaries of the city’s 51 Council districts on Monday with Council members appointing eight members to an redistricting commission. The new districts, reflective of data from the 2020 Census and other factors, will be at play for the 2023 elections when all 51 seats of the City Council will again be on the ballot, as well as the subsequent 2025 and 2029 elections.

Under the city Charter, the new

Voters at the voting booth (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

There are five yes or no questions on the 2021 general election ballot across New York, asking voters to approve or disapprove changes to the state constitution. All the items on the ballot have been passed by two successive classes of the State Legislature and now go to the voters. They includes measures related to legislative redistricting, voting, clean air and water, and more.

Four experts joined host Ben Max for a Manhattan Neighborhood Network

Voters at the polls (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

In New York, we are just weeks away from going to the polls to vote in the general election. You may know that we will vote for various important positions in our local government, such as the mayor of New York City and county executives outside of the Big Apple. You may not know that, across the state, we will also be voting on critical ballot questions. To strengthen democracy in our state, it’s important that you vote “yes” on three key questions to reform the

The #DrawDemocracy NY gerrymandering jigsaw puzzle

The 2020 Census data is out, and redistricting of legislative boundaries has officially begun. While state leaders should see the new data as a chance to understand how New York’s changing communities can be better represented, historically, our elected officials have used redistricting to favor themselves and special interests. It’s time for this tradition to end -- New Yorkers cannot wait another decade for fair representation.

To show New Yorkers just how ugly our state’s

NYC Census efforts (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

Despite concerns that the 2020 Census count in New York City would reflect a major minority undercount and leave out people who left because of the pandemic, we came out on top.

The results of the Census were outstanding for the region. After decades of alleged Census undercounts, the New York City saw its population grow by 7.7% since 2010.

And it’s even more remarkable given unprecedented challenges posed by the pandemic and the Trump administration.

(l-r) Top: Ivelisse Cuevas-Molina, Ross Brady & Jack Martins; Middle: John Flateau & David Imamura; Bottom: John Conway

New York's legislative redistricting commission is moving into its next phase following a series of public hearings intended to get a sense of the contours of "communities of interest," a new criteria being incorporated into the line-drawing process for the first time this cycle, in addition to constitutional and statutory requirements.

The commission, itself a nascent entity, held nine

New York State Senate (photo: NY Senate Media Services)

The United States Census released the nation’s population data by congressional and state legislative district on August 12, setting underway the re-districting of legislative seats, controlled by each individual state. The process will now unfold in New York and around the nation, with control of the House of Representatives and state legislatures on the line.

Having served in the New York State Legislature for 32 years, I went through three redistrictings, in 1992, 2002, and

Voting (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)

In addition to municipal elections across the state, including the consequential New York City mayor's race, all New York voters will have an opportunity to approve or disapprove five state constitutional amendments on the ballot this fall. If any of them are ratified through general election voting -- and that is likely given the state's recent history of ballot referenda -- they will be enshrined in the state's central governing document.

The questions before voters have already been drafted and

NY State Senate Districts (image via Google Maps)

This year state officials will begin the once-a-decade process of redrawing congressional and state legislative district lines under a new system approved by voters back in 2014.

The lines will be drawn by a commission appointed by Democratic and Republican leaders in the state Legislature rather than by the Legislature itself. After a series of public hearings this summer and fall the commission will submit its proposed maps to the Legislature, which can either approve the lines or reject and ultimately redraw them. The latter

State Senate chambers (photo: Philip Kamrass/Governor's Office)

The Census Bureau released its population counts for the nation and the states on April 26, including changes for the states in the apportionment of 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives. New York State will drop one House seat, going from 27 seats to 26, even though it actually gained more than 800,000 people, from 19.4 to 20.2 million, since 2010. Extraordinarily, the Census reported that New York would have held its 27th seat if  89