NYC’s Congressional District 11 Takes Center-Stage Over Redistricting Controversy

By: Rusty Brooks

Political lines and boundaries can seem arbitrary and random at best and an effort to maliciously realign power at worst. The recent redistricting in NYC is being watched by everyone, and congressional District 11 is at the forefront.

The New York Times reports, “the once-in-a-decade redistricting effort has created unusual congressional district lines all over the country, reflecting a partisan process embraced by Republicans and Democrats alike. But perhaps no other district in New York City contains constituencies so clearly in opposition to each other as the reconstituted 11th, whose new lines are expected to better position the Democratic Party to seize a seat now held by Representative Nicole Malliotakis, the lone Republican in the New York City delegation.

City Councilman David Carr, a Staten Island Republican, told The New York Times, “They put two communities together that have literally nothing in common other than they happen to all live in the same city. In terms of values, in terms of interests, they couldn’t be further apart. And they’ve created a district that’s going to be permanently at war with itself.”

Katie Glueck reports, “In 2020, the district supported Mr. Trump by about 10 percentage points. If the new district lines were in place for the 2020 election, the district would have backed President Biden by roughly the same margin, according to data compiled by the City University of New York.

Republican Representative Nicole Malliotakis says, “the new lines seemed aimed at “silencing the voices of the current district and tilting the scale to give whoever the Democratic nominee is an advantage.”

Jocelyn Baker, a midwife from the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn told The New York Times, “As much as I love my bubble, I don’t think it’s helpful for us to just stay in our bubbles and not be exposed to anything else.”

Glueck writes, “on Staten Island, Mr. Carr, the councilman, took a far dimmer view of the district’s contours. “There’s no way a congressman of either party is going to be liked by the other half of the district no matter what they do,” he said. “You now have a district where, as soon as that person’s in office, the other half of the district is preparing to try to unseat them.”

 

Brittany Ramos

DeBarros, is running for office in Brooklyn and is looking to connect with her possible constituents in Staten Island, told The New York Times, ““We feel really excited about welcoming new neighborhoods that have also had incredible progressive victories recently with other bold women of color,” she said. “We need a bold leader who is focused on the lived experiences of everyday people across the district because it is so diverse.”

Prior to the 2012 redistricting, most of the territory currently located in the 11th district had been located in New York’s 13th congressional district, while the 11th district was located entirely in Brooklyn and had a majority African American population. Most of the territory located within the old 11th district is now located in New York’s 9th congressional district. Since the redistricting in 2012 district 13 has become deep blue, while district 11, which was solid blue became red leaning. With the newest redistricting, both of these districts will now be heavily Democratic.