Astoria, LIC Politics Shaken Up Again By New Assembly Maps

ASTORIA, QUEENS — It isn't deja vu: Western Queens' political landscape has once again been shaken up by newly redrawn legislative maps, with the most recent election only just behind us.

The new State Assembly maps were released Thursday by New York's Independent Redistricting Commission, ahead of the next state elections in 2024. They contain some significant changes to Astoria and Long Island City, including a district that would jump across the East River to encompass part of Manhattan.

Unlike plans for the State Senate and U.S. Congress, the Assembly maps drawn earlier this year by Democratic state lawmakers had been allowed to stand for the 2022 elections instead of being redrawn by a court-appointed special master. But in subsequent legal challenges, state judges ruled that the Assembly maps were invalid, too, and would need to be revised by early 2023.

The commission's new draft maps will face a series of public hearings before a final version is submitted next April.

For now, though, here's what would change with the latest Assembly maps.

District 36 jumps to Manhattan

Perhaps the most dramatic change would be in District 36, now represented by Democrat Zohran Mamdani.

Currently covering western Astoria, Dutch Kills and a bit of Long Island City, the district would be shifted westward under the commission's plan to cover Roosevelt Island and parts of Midtown East and the Upper East Side.

Such a change may not go over well, if the recent City Council redistricting process is any indication. When a similar Queens-Manhattan district was proposed at the city level, the city's districting commission was forced to back down this fall in the face of local opposition.

Mamdani, a democratic socialist who lives in Astoria, did not immediately comment publicly on the proposed map.

District 34 shifts to Astoria

Democratic Assembly Member Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas saw her Jackson Heights-based district shifted westward during this year's redistricting process, covering the Ditmars-Steinway area north of Astoria Boulevard.

Now, under the commission's proposal, her district would move even further west to center almost entirely on Astoria, covering most of the neighborhood north of 34th Avenue.

It's unclear what that would mean for Gonzalez-Rojas, who reportedly lives in Jackson Heights.

District 38: from LIC to Rego Park

Among the oddest-shaped of the newly proposed districts is the new District 38, which would form a U-shape from Long Island City all the way to Rego Park, dipping through Brooklyn along the way.

On Twitter, City & State reporter Jeff Coltin argued that there is no obvious incumbent who would run for the seat — the current District 38 Assembly Member, Jenifer Rajkumar, would have most of her existing Southeast Queens territory merged into another district.

Explore the new draft maps on the redistricting commission's website.