UES, UWS Jews Not So Different After All, Mapmaker Decides

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — The creative argument to keep the Upper East and Upper West Sides in separate districts because their Jewish populations are different was rejected by the state's mapmaker on Friday, who said the two neighborhoods have more in common than they realize.

The final legislative maps by court-designated special master Jonathan Cervas were approved last week by Steuben County Supreme Court Justice Patrick McAllister, cementing a slew of changes to the state's political landscape.

Cervas made some edits to the new maps in response to public feedback he received in the days after his initial draft was released last Monday. But one big decision remained unchanged: the Manhattan merger that combines the Upper East and Upper West sides into a single congressional district for the first time in recent memory.

"The areas of the city bordering on opposite sides of Central Park do not appear to be as strongly distinguished in terms of economic and demographic differences as they once were," Cervas wrote in a document explaining his reasoning.

"Thus, while this is a hard choice, I do not find a compelling community of interest argument for changing the configurations of Manhattan congressional districts in the proposed maps."

With that, Cervas paved the way for an August primary showdown between longtime Congress members Jerry Nadler and Carolyn Maloney — and also swept away days of fevered debate over the new 12th District, including an influx of public comments from Manhattanites who said the two neighborhoods should stay separate.

"The distinction tends to break down"

Among those was a letter from leaders of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, who told Cervas and the court that "East Side Jews can be clearly differentiated from West Side Jews."

"Rarely do the East Side Jews belong to synagogues located on the West Side, or vice versa," the Council's president and CEO wrote. "To a great extent, seldom do Jewish parents on the West Side send their children to Jewish schools on the East Side or the other way around."

Cervas, while not taking on that argument directly, said he was more inclined to believe that Central Park, rather than dividing the two sides of Manhattan, "can be viewed as a green space for shared activities that unite uptown Manhattan."

And since the new 12th District stretches below Central Park and into Midtown, "the East Side versus West Side distinction tends to break down as we move further south," Cervas wrote.

Indeed, Cervas is not alone in being skeptical about the supposed contrasts between the two neighborhoods.

"I grew up on the UWS and we held tight to the view that we were more bohemian and less wealthy and snooty than the Upper East Side swells," tweeted New York Times reporter Michael Powell on Monday. "...Even by the end of the 1980s that was a conceit fast eroding and today it is ridiculous."

Ben Wetzler, a Democratic district leader on the Upper East Side, poked fun at the notion that the neighborhoods are drastically different.

"For instance, [on] W 80th Street there is a grocery store called Zabar's, named after Saul Zabar," Wetzler tweeted. "E 80th Street, on the other hand, has Eli's Market, named after Eli Zabar."

Cervas was more sympathetic to some other criticisms of his initial maps: the new map, for example, reunites Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn into a single district in response to complaints that the first draft divided it in two.

The most immediate consequence of the new district will be the Aug. 23 Democratic primary between Nadler and Maloney, who have each represented their respective neighborhoods on the West and East sides for nearly 30 years.

Barbs are already flying: Maloney, 76, said in a statement that she would not "stand aside for the sake of men’s egos." Nadler, 74, said in his own statement that he "look[s] forward to the opportunity to continue serving the West Side," while being "excited to introduce myself and my record of principled, progressive leadership more fully to the residents of the East Side."

Meanwhile, Suraj Patel, who has run twice against Maloney in her former East Side district, confirmed Tuesday that he would challenge her and Nadler in the primary, saying that "New Yorkers are hungry for change."

Rana Abdelhamid, a progressive who was mounting a well-funded challenge against Maloney, has still not said whether she will run in the new district.

"Currently, the Rana for Congress campaign is taking time to reflect on their campaign, speak with their broader coalition, volunteer leaders, and staff," spokesperson Natalia Liff told Patch on Tuesday, adding that Abdelhamid would make a final decision before the May 31 deadline to accept a ballot spot.

Related coverage:

• UES And UWS Jews Are Different, Advocates Tell Redistricting Judge
• UWS Merged With UES In New Congressional Map, Setting Up Primary Clash
• NY Congressional Redistricting Draft Maps Drop