NYS Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment (LATFOR)                     

250 Broadway, Suite 2100

New York, NY 10007

To the Members of the New York State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment,

New York State is on the cusp of adopting new district lines for State Assembly, State Senate and Congressional districts. These district lines will affect every single New Yorker - regardless of voter and citizenship status - every day for an entire decade, until 2022.

Redistricting plays a pivotal and fundamental role in creating opportunities for communities -  especially minority communities - to meaningfully participate in the political process. Unfortunately, ethnic communities have repeatedly been divided into multiple districts, effectively diluting the influence of minority voters in those communities.

In the past 10 years, the Asian population in New York has grown 36%, and the population is now over 1.4 million, or 7.3% of the entire state. Currently, only 1 out of 212 state legislators are Asian American.

I would like to voice my support for the Asian American Community Coalition On Redistricting and Democracy (ACCORD), its principles and efforts towards empowering the Asian Pacific American community by keeping communities of interest together. Specifically, I support ACCORD’s district plans that keep together the communities of interest that exist either wholly or partly in, but are not limited to, the following neighborhoods.

• In Queens: Elmhurst, Jackson Heights and Woodside;  Flushing, Bayside, Murray Hill, East Flushing, Queensboro; Richmond Hill and South Ozone Park; Floral Park, Bellerose, Queens Village, and Glen Oaks; Briarwood and Jamaica Hills
  
• In Brooklyn: Sunset Park and Bensonhurst
  
• In Manhattan: Chinatown and the Lower East Side

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