NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY OFFICE OF ASSEMBLYMEMBER ARAVELLA SIMOTAS For Immediate Release February 8, 2012 Contact: Loren

Amor, 347-610-6373

Simotas Testifies at LATFOR Public Hearing

Speaks out against Senate Republican plan to divide western Queens QUEENS, N.Y. Assemblymember Aravella Simotas addressed the New York State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment (LATFOR) yesterday during a public hearing held at Queens Borough Hall to discuss the legislatures proposed redistricting lines. In her testimony, Simotas criticized state Senate Republicans for their plan to split Astoria in two, removing part of the neighborhood from Senate District 12 and dividing the western Queens community. The lawmaker presented LATFOR with nearly 400 signatures from western Queens residents opposing the new lines. The deliberate division of a cohesive community will cost its residents the unified representation they have long enjoyed, Simotas said. Simotas called the Republican proposal a brazen attempt to punish Senator Michael Gianaris, a longtime advocate of nonpartisan redistricting who has repeatedly called on Senate Republicans to uphold their campaign promise to support an independent reapportionment process, by carving him out of his district. However, Simotas stated, the real victims of the Senate Majoritys actions would be the residents of western Queens. Parents with children in the same school will not be able to approach their elected representative together, Simotas testified. Seniors and individuals with disabilities will be unable to travel to far-flung district offices. It is their voices that will be sacrificed. Simotas pointed out the diversity of western Queens, which has historically been home to large immigrant populations from across the world and more recently has seen an influx of young professionals from Manhattan. These diverse groups form a multicultural tapestry in which distinct identities are maintained but neighborhood cohesion is strengthened, Simotas said. Should the proposed Senate lines be enacted, that tapestry will be ripped in two.

Simotas urged LATFOR to go back to the drawing board and return with lines that would keep the western Queens community intact. She also called on Governor Cuomo to veto any redistricting plan that reflected partisan maneuvering. ###