Good morning. It’s Thursday. We’ll look at the plan for redrawing New York State’s congressional districts, a partisan plan approved by the Democratic-controlled Legislature. We’ll also meet people who defend former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Some joked that the district of Representative Jerrold Nadler, above, had been “Jerrymandered” to benefit Democrats.Credit…Stefani Reynolds for The New York Times
There were jokes that one district had been “Jerrymandered,” a singularly New York form of the political tug of war known as gerrymandering. There were also snickers that the outline of another district on the map looked like the symbol for the Artist Formerly Known as Prince.
Both new districts are part of the aggressive partisan reconfiguration of New York’s congressional districts that Democrats in the Legislature adopted on Wednesday. The plan positions them to flip three seats in Congress — on Long Island, Staten Island and in Central New York — while eliminating a fourth Republican seat upstate.
Republicans threatened to challenge the plan in court. And Michael Li, senior counsel for the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, said it “gives Democrats 85 percent of the seats in a state that is not 85 percent Democratic.”
[A ‘Master Class’ in Gerrymandering, This Time Led by N.Y. Democrats]
Democrats across the nation have long complained about partisan gerrymandering, particularly in red states. But three of my colleagues — Nicholas Fandos, Luis Ferré-Sadurní and Grace Ashford — write that given the same opportunity, Democrats in New York maneuvered to tighten their hold. The new map is expected to favor Democratic candidates in 22 of New York’s 26 congressional districts. Democrats currently control 19 seats in New York, compared with eight held by Republicans. New York will lose one seat because of population changes in the 2020 census.
Democratic leaders in Albany rejected the gerrymandering charge. But many Democratic operatives and voters were less restrained, arguing that Democrats could not afford to take the high road when Republicans have shown no inclination to do so.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, is widely expected to sign the map into law in the coming days.
The redrawing of Representative Jerrold Nadler’s district led to the joke that it was “Jerrymandered,” playing off his name and the term “gerrymander,” coined to describe a squiggly, salamander-shaped voting district that was mapped out when Elbridge Gerry was the governor of Massachusetts in the 19th century.
Nadler’s new district is almost comically contorted, stretching 15 miles through 15 different State Assembly districts, from his longtime base on the Upper West Side to Brooklyn, where it takes in strips of Carroll Gardens and Boerum Hill and all of Prospect Park, Borough Park and Bensonhurst.
It was drawn that way for reasons that may help two other Democrats, Representative Carolyn Maloney and whoever runs against Representative Nicole Malliotakis, a Republican whose district includes Staten Island and a part of South Brooklyn. Maloney picked up part of Nadler’s district on the Upper West Side and gave up progressive areas in Brooklyn and Queens, an advantage as she faces a primary challenge from the left.
Understand Redistricting and Gerrymandering
- Redistricting, Explained: Answers to your most pressing questions about the process that is reshaping American politics.
- Understand Gerrymandering: Can you gerrymander your party to power? Try to draw your own districts in this imaginary state.
- New York: Democrats’ aggressive reconfiguration of the state’s congressional map is one of the most consequential in the nation.
- Texas: Republicans want to make Texas even redder. Here are four ways their proposed maps further gerrymandered the state’s House districts.
Weather
Prepare for rain in the morning and temps in the mid-40s as a cold front approaches. Temperatures will drop tonight.
alternate-side parking
Suspended today.
Thousands mourn a slain N.Y.P.D. officer who was ‘full of dreams’
Once again, row after row of blue filled the pews inside St. Patrick’s Cathedral and the slushy sidewalks outside. Once again, the coffin for a New York City police officer stood before the steps leading to the altar.
Officer Wilbert Mora, killed while answering a 911 call about a domestic disturbance on Jan. 21, was remembered as “full of dreams,” a tall, strapping 27-year-old officer who wore shield number 15918 and had joined the department a little more than three years ago. His partner, Officer Jason Rivera, 22, had been shot at the same time. Officer Rivera died the night of the shooting and was eulogized at St. Patrick’s last week. Officer Mora’s death was announced on Jan. 25.
Mayor Eric Adams, a former police captain, addressed Mora’s grieving parents directly in his eulogy. “I thank you for sharing your son with our city,” he said.
The mayor also repeated comments he had made at Officer Rivera’s funeral, saying he would give the police the resources needed to make the city safer. He said the city was facing a battle of “New York against the killers” that he would not lose.
In his first five weeks as mayor, six officers have been shot, including an off-duty officer who was shot in the shoulder after two men tried steal his car. Before this year, the last time a New York City police officer had been fatally shot on duty was in 2019.
Adams also thanked Officer Sumit Sulan, a rookie who shot and killed the man who opened fire on Officers Mora and Rivera. The mayor called Sulan “a hero.”
The latest New York news
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The authorities in Manhattan charged four men who they said sold a deadly dose of fentanyl-laced heroin to Michael K. Williams.
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Jeff Zucker resigned as the president of CNN, saying he had failed to disclose a romantic relationship with another CNNexecutive. The relationship came up in December when the network fired the anchor Chris Cuomo over his efforts to help his brother, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
They defend Andrew Cuomo
Five months after Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned amid allegations of sexual harassment, a small band of loyalists is donating money and swarming social media to support him.
It’s a battle most New Yorkers have tuned out. But — driven by admiration for Cuomo from his decade as governor and his months of daily pandemic briefings — the supporters have banded together online on Facebook and Twitter. Some hold regular Zoom meetings. Others sell Cuomo-related merchandise, like T-shirts with the word “allegedly.”
Some who defend him also say the #MeToo movement has gone too far.
“We seem to be on a pendulum in this country where we’ve gone from believing no women to believing all women,” said Virginia Hagan, above, a retired federal bank examiner who has contributed $1,200 to Cuomo’s campaign fund, which continues to accept donations. Hagan, who lives outside Fort Worth, said she was less than certain about Cuomo’s innocence but was alarmed about bypassing “due process” for a flash trial by public opinion.
How U.S. Redistricting Works
What is redistricting? It’s the redrawing of the boundaries of congressional and state legislative districts. It happens every 10 years, after the census, to reflect changes in population.
Why is it important this year? With an extremely slim Democratic margin in the House of Representatives, simply redrawing maps in a few key states could determine control of Congress in 2022.
How does it work? The census dictates how many seats in Congress each state will get. Mapmakers then work to ensure that a state’s districts all have roughly the same number of residents, to ensure equal representation in the House.
Who draws the new maps? Each state has its own process. Eleven states leave the mapmaking to an outside panel. But most — 39 states — have state lawmakers draw the new maps for Congress.
If state legislators can draw their own districts, won’t they be biased? Yes. Partisan mapmakers often move district lines — subtly or egregiously — to cluster voters in a way that advances a political goal. This is called gerrymandering.
What is gerrymandering? It refers to the intentional distortion of district maps to give one party an advantage. While all districts must have roughly the same population, mapmakers can make subjective decisions to create a partisan tilt.
Is gerrymandering legal? Yes and no. In 2019, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal courts have no role to play in blocking partisan gerrymanders. However, the court left intact parts of the Voting Rights Act that prohibit racial or ethnic gerrymandering.
Want to know more about redistricting and gerrymandering? Times reporters answer your most pressing questions here.
[Why These Women Are Determined to Clear Cuomo’s Name]
Amanda Ames of Potsdam, N.Y., has been donating $5 a month because she wants Cuomo to throw his hat in the ring again, maybe even for president. “He expects perfection,” she said, “and it’s maybe too much for people to handle.”
How many are there? Twitter data and interviews with some highly engaged Cuomo supporters suggest that the number of active participants is probably in the hundreds, though a smaller set of accounts produces much of the content. Many live far from New York, and most are women. Of the more than 230 people who have collectively donated $31,000 to Cuomo’s campaign fund since he announced his resignation last August, three out of every four appeared to be women, according to a New York Times analysis of public campaign filings.
Cuomo’s team and many of the leaders of the online movement say they do not coordinate. Several women who are active in Cuomo’s defense said any hint of back-room strategy sessions would undermine their credibility.
“We’ve been called fake bots or paid aides in some way,” said Anna Vavare, a former social worker and psychologist in Ontario, who runs social media for We Decide New York Inc., one of the largest pro-Cuomo groups. “Someone suggested we are all Rich Azzopardi,” she added, referring to the political operative who has been a Cuomo spokesman. “I object to that strongly. I don’t want to be him.”
What we’re reading
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Shakespeare in the Park, which was Shakespeare on the radio in 2020, is making a comeback with two full-scale productions planned for this summer.
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Brooklyn Magazine interviewed Shahana Hanif, the first Muslim woman to become a City Council member, about her first month on the job and about bringing out the Bangladeshi vote.
METROPOLITAN diary
The judge’s question
Dear Diary:
I owned a dry-cleaning plant in central Queens for 20 years. We had a drop store in the Bronx and a commercial van to bring the clothes back and forth to the plant.
One day when the van needed servicing, the driver offered to put the clothes in his own van to bring them to the Bronx. He got stopped on the Bronx River Parkway and given a ticket for carrying commercial goods on a road where that was prohibited.
When I arrived at the Bronx Criminal Courthouse on the hearing date, I was given a number and told to wait among all the others who were there to adjudicate their tickets.
Finally, I was called: “Mr. Roth, owner of UN Cleaners, please step forward.”
I explained the situation to the judge.
He thought for a few moments.
“I only have one question,” he said.
I waited.
“Why does it cost $8.99 just to press one suit?”
— Edward Roth
Illustrated by Agnes Lee. Read more Metropolitan Diary here.
Glad we could get together here. See you tomorrow. — J.B.
P.S. Here’s today’s Mini Crossword and Spelling Bee. You can find all our puzzles here.
Melissa Guerrero, Sadiba Hasan, Olivia Parker and Dana Rubenstein contributed to New York Today. You can reach the team at [email protected].
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