State Releases Proposed Assembly, Senate Redistricting Maps

NEW YORK STATE — The New York State Legislature just released its proposed Assembly and Senate district maps, just days after releasing proposed Congressional district maps.

Long Island would keep the same number of Assembly and Senate districts under the new maps — 22 in the Assembly and 9 in the Senate — but would change the shape of many of them.

One of the biggest changes would be to the 2nd Senate District. Instead of representing the North Shore of Suffolk County, it would now stretch in an S-shape and also cover a middle part of the Island, as well as some of the South Shore. It makes the 1st SD smaller in the process.

The plan would also change the 5th SD from covering both Nassau and Suffolk to mainly just Suffolk County, and change the 6th SD to cover more of Nassau.

The changes in the Assembly are less drastic, and are focused more on the southern half of Nassau County, where the population is densest. Some of the borders of districts there are shifting, but many are covering most of the same communities as before the redistricting.

After the state's Independent Redistricting Commission failed to reach a consensus on new maps, it fell to the state Legislature to draw the new lines. If approved, the new maps would be in effect for the 2022 elections.