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East or West: Re-Igniting the Debate Ten Years Later

Downtown residents representing Chinatown and the Lower East Side at the public hearing. Photo by Margaret Fung.

By Shirley Lin | Special to AsianWeek

A busload of Chinatown and Lower East Side residents, workers and organizers converged on a public hearing on Dec. 3, demanding that New York City districting officials chart a different political future for the Lower Manhattan area.

“They want us divided, keep us united!” a coalition of Asian, Latino, and black demonstrators, many of whom took off from work early to be there, shouted.

With the decennial reconfiguration of city council districts, the crucible of race, power and politics has once again stirred residents to speak out. In 1991, in response to allegations of deep-seated racial inequities in city government, the New York City Districting Commission tore up the political map, expanding the number of city council seats from 35 to 51. Smaller districts, it was hoped, would pave the way for the election of more minorities to city government.

For Chinatown residents, however, two competing plans emerged: join the predominantly Latino section to the east, or the predominantly white section to the west. The Districting Commission ultimately included Chinatown with the mainly white areas of Battery Park City, TriBeCa and SoHo, in District 1.

The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund’s (AALDEF) proposal for Districts 1 and 2.

Downtown residents representing Chinatown and the Lower East Side testified at the public hearing — one of many in a second round intended to gather resident input — arguing that issues such as housing, schools and immigrant services inscribe both neighborhoods into a “community of interest,” the putative guidepost for the Commission’s decisions.

Residents and community activists greeted the redistricting officials first proposal — unveiled in late October — with disapointment. In the Commission’s plan, District 1 and District 2 are virtually untouched, with the exception of a two-block swap.

“We lose every time in the redistricting process,” says AALDEF staff attorney Glenn Magpantay. “This is not just about race. It’s about bringing people who have common interests and concerns in the community to the foreground and ensuring that those interests are represented in the city council.”

Not all community members are pushing for unification, however. Asian Americans for Equality (AAFE), a Chinatown-based community services and advocacy group, has spoken out loudly in favor of keeping the boundaries as they are. Leaders at AAFE believe that District 1 is still a competitive district for Asian Pacific American candidates, and cite the success of APA candidates in the 2001 city council elections, despite the split vote in the Democratic primary, where there were multiple Chinese American candidates. Some believe that in linking the political fate of the two neighborhoods, both would lose political power.

Says Robert Weber, AAFE policy director, “We would not want to see the communities pit together and the candidates cancel each other out. Rather than having a more diverse council, you’ll have no minority representation in lower Manhattan.”

Weber predicts that whichever candidate wins the Democratic primary effectively wins the general elections in a majority-Democratic district. According to Weber, APA candidates have done well among Democrats outside of Chinatown. (AAFE’s deputy executive director, Margaret Chin, has been a long-time contender for the city council seat.)

AAFE also believes that Chinatown’s best stake for urgently-needed economic recovery is tied to the district’s current representative, Alan Gerson. Since he took office in January, Gerson has served as chair of the Select Committee on Lower Manhattan Redevelopment, as the World Trade Center site is located in District 1. The councilmember favors keeping Chinatown in his district.

Latinos, though a minority in District 2, have had greater political success than their APA neighbors. Margarita Lopez, the current representative for District 2 and its second Latino official, says she favors present lines, despite having rallied for the reverse a decade earlier.

“When the decision was made to dissect those communities, that was when the real crime was committed,” says Lopez. “In the process, the communities became acclimated to the new districts. At this point, after 10 years, I think it would be more detrimental to change the lines than to leave them as they are … Changing those lines would be more detrimental economically, socially and culturally.”

Other advocates disagree, saying that the low-income, working-class communities in both districts will benefit from an overdue alliance. “The exploitation of workers doesn’t distinguish between Asians and Latinos. The same for unaffordable housing, and lack of health care,” says Magpantay. “I think Asians understand that Latinos can be good representatives for us because they understand a lot of the issues that affect them. Candidates are temporary, but in the end whoever represents the district must be accountable to our community.”

The Districting Commission will submit a second draft of its proposal to the City Council for evaluation before sending it to the Department of Justice early next year to ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act.