With new, gerrymandered Congressional maps, Reps. Jeffries (a local) & Nadler (not) would represent Atlantic Yards site, replacing Rep. Clarke
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| Map excerpted from Gothamist |
As shown in the map at right. Rep. Yvette Clarke--a Flatbush resident--would lose Atlantic Yards, as her 9th District boundary moves east, to the most part east of Underhill Avenue, and then east of Prospect Park.
(Her current district lines, which extend to Fourth Avenue in part, and then to Sixth Avenue in Park Slope, are below left.)
And now the Atlantic Yards/Pacific site would be split between Reps. Hakeem Jeffries and Rep. Jerry Nadler.
Jeffries, a Prospect Heights resident and former state Assemblymember, is quite familiar with the project, though it can hardly be a priority. Nadler's lived on the Upper West Side his entire adult life and likely knows little about the project.
The Congressional impact on the project has been limited, but, you never know, there could be pots of federal funds available for boosts and bailouts.
Note that the 11th District, currently home to Staten Island Republican Nicole Malliotakis, has been redrawn to extend north to include most of Park Slope, including near the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park site, opening it electorally to the Democrats.
(I'll write tomorrow about the redistricting in the state legislature.)
Two new Reps.
In the 8th District, Jeffries would represent the blocks including Barclays Center and the three towers around it, plus the sites for six towers over the Vanderbilt Yard, should a platform be built.
Currently, his district extends down to Bergen Street but carves out the Atlantic Yards site, and associated blocks, between Fourth and Vanderbilt avenues, with the southern border of his district in that stretch Atlantic Avenue.
And Manhattan-based Nadler would see his verry oddly-shaped 10th District get Site 5, west of Flatbush Avenue, plus the two blocks below Pacific Street east of Sixth Avenue.
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| Current 9th District |
What does it mean?
Do the redrawn boundaries mean much? Unlikely, for now, but at least Jeffries starts with a knowledge base, and also would be representing a lot of project neighbors, at least those to the north.
Let's see if the arena operators invite him in for photo ops, as they did with Clarke.
But as noted above, there may be federal money available at some point, and that would likely rely considerably on Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Majority Leader, who just happens to live on Prospect Park West near Grand Army Plaza--in the newly drawn 11th, as opposed to Clarke's 9th.
As to Nadler, whose district would stretch from Columbia University to Bath Beach, the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park blocks, as well as the rest of Prospect Heights, look to be connective tissue, linking his west side Manhattan territory deeper into Brooklyn, getting him down to a big chunk of Borough Park.
Of course it makes no sense, other than to reflect Democratic Party power politics. So it's hard to think that Prospect Heights would be a big priority, though perhaps he'd take counsel from Jeffries. As the New York Times put it:
Indeed, with its serpentine shape, Mr. Nadler’s reimagined district — New York’s 10th — is almost comically contorted and overwhelmingly favors Democrats. It stretches 15 miles through 15 different State Assembly districts from Mr. Nadler’s home on Manhattan’s Upper West Side to Brooklyn, jumping over New York Harbor and making three sharp turns to take in small strips of Carroll Gardens and Boerum Hill, before broadening out to encompass all of Prospect Park, Borough Park and Bensonhurst.
Current maps, future shifts
Clarke's 9th District would still contain a reasonable number of project neighbors. Rep. Nydia Velazquez's 7th District, which currently borders the 9th District, taking in part of Park Slope and Gowanus, would lose those segments.
Under the Democratic-drawn maps, Malliotakis' 11th District, which currently extends from Staten Island to Bay Ridge in Southern Brooklyn, would be extended to Sunset Park, Gowanus, and Park Slope in an effort to incorporate more Democratic voters.
That means not just a challenge from former Democratic Rep. Max Rose, but rumblings of a candidacy from Bill de Blasio, recently departed NYC mayor and perennial candidate. So de Blasio, a former City Council member, might just be representing Park Slope neighbors of Atlantic Yards yet again.
Here are the current maps for Nadler's 10th District and Jeffries' 8th District.
#AtlanticYards @pacificparkbk would be split between @RepJeffries: arena block, two blocks over railyard (which could support 6 towers)
— Norman Oder (@AYReport) February 2, 2022
+ @RepJerryNadler: Site 5, B15, + SE block w/four towers
Would no longer be repped by @RepYvetteClarke https://t.co/qlGtn432ca
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