Civil Rights Groups Propose New York City Redistricting Map

Several civil rights groups have joined forces to draft a redistricting plan for New York City that they say would protect the voting rights of African-Americans, Latinos and Asian-Americans. Their proposed “unity map” draws lines for state assembly and state Senate districts that the groups say reflects the demographic shifts of the past decade. It also would increase the number of districts majority-minority districts.

"We now have clear indications of where there has been tremendous expansions by communities, particularly Latino and Asian, and where the Black community has shifted," Esmeralda Simmons, the executive director of the Center for Law and Social Justice, told NBC New York.

The Center for Law and Social Justice, based at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, worked with LatinoJustice PRLDEF, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund and the National Institute for Latino Politic to develop the maps. The map reflects the rapid growth of Asians and Latinos, who now account for 12 percent and 29 percent of New York City’s population, and aims to protect existing African-American districts.

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