No More Secrets!

Tell the Districting Commission to make their map changes in public hearings BEFORE their presentation to City Council on September 22, 2022. They did it in 2013. Why not now? 

Is it because they already gave Staten Island preferential treatment this past Spring–an act that has made it harder to keep neighborhoods in other boroughs together? 

Make your voice heard. Sign this Citizens Union letter BEFORE Friday, Sept. 2, 2022. The letter asks the Districting Commission to negotiate its revisions in public hearings. Read the letter here. Add your name here.

Click here for the latest news.

Amazing Showing from Hell’s Kitchen at Aug. 22 Hearing

Hell’s Kitchen was out in force on Monday, August 22, testifying at the public hearing on City Council redistricting. We basically had 10 days to research a solution, pull together a response and galvanize the community to keep Hell’s Kitchen whole. Check out the explainer video that we created in a little over 48 hours. 

The way everyone came together to develop the video, organize the bus, help with the email campaign, editing, putting up flyers, even offering a little coding help, among a hundred other details on a very tight deadline was amazing.

We can’t stop now, however. We need to keep the pressure on the Districting Commission as it deliberates on how to adjust its disastrous preliminary map.

Two things became abundantly clear at the public hearing on August 22:

1. Staten Island got preferential treatment that made it harder to keep neighborhoods like ours together in the other four boroughs.
2. The districting commission did not make public its rationale for drawing the map the way it did. And yet, the previous districting commission in 2013 held public meetings as they negotiated the redistricting lines.

Read on to learn the History of Our Redistricting Campaign

Keep Hell’s Kitchen Whole

The City is trying to slice up Hell’s Kitchen into three different City Council districts. We need to sign up 100 people to testify on Aug. 22, 2022 in favor of the Unity Map to keep Hell’s Kitchen whole.

THREE WAYS YOU CAN HELP

• Testify in person or on Zoom: Tell the Commission that we want the Unity map, which will preserve the diversity of our neighborhood and keep Hell’s Kitchen whole. Register here by midnight on Sunday, August 21. Testify on Monday, Aug. 22 between 5:30 pm and 9 pm at the Schomburg Center, 515 Malcom X Blvd. You’ll have three minutes to speak. Click here for tips on creating effective testimony.

Please show up even if you get wait-listed. We need a large group in attendance to show how outraged the Hell’s Kitchen community is by the thought of being split up like this.

A group of us are meeting at 4:15 PM on Monday on the south east side of West 50th and Broadway to take the train up together. We’ll come back together as well.

A school bus has also been rented that can take 45 people to the Schomburg Center and back. Pick ups will be at 4:00 Monday on the NE corner of 43/10^th and NE corner of 49/10^th, dropping off on, same streets on 9^th Avenue.

We’ve just learned that Council Member Erik Bottcher will be joining us on the bus at 4 pm today, Monday, August. 22.

Signs will be available.

• Write your own email: If you can’t make it on Aug. 22, you can also write an email to the Commission telling them why they should keep Hell’s Kitchen whole. Deadline is midnight Monday, August 22. Email your testimony to PublicTestimony@redistricting.nyc.gov  Need inspiration? Go to Tips for Testimony.

• Send a pre-written email. Don’t have time to write an email? Click to send   a pre-written letter in support of the Unity Map, which preserves our diversity and keeps Hell’s Kitchen whole. PLEASE REMEMBER to scroll to the bottom and sign your FULL NAME (first and last names) and building address.

Here’s the Backstory:

Hell’s Kitchen has long been part of a single City Council District—Council District 3. 

But now, the City’s redistricting commission wants to slice us up into three different City Council districts. 

This would be a disaster for our community.

Our representation would be weakened because we will become a small, inconsequential part of three different City Council districts, represented by three different City Council Members.

We will have to convince three different City Council members

to work together and speak and fight for our housing, our schools, our parks, our small businesses, public safety, LGBTQ+ rights and the Clinton Special District that preserves the Hell’s Kitchen Neighborhood from greedy real estate developers.

And worse: Our current wonderfully diverse neighborhood, which has seen a significant increase in Hispanic and Asian residents, will be broken into three majority white districts–in direct violation of the

Federal Voting Rights Act of 1965.

You can see the numbers for yourself in the following tables, based on official data taken from the NYC Office of City Planning and the NYC Districting Commission . . .

But it’s NOT TOO LATE to stop this attack on our neighborhood.

And this is where you can help.

The Districting Commission will be taking public testimony, in-person, by Zoom, and by email. They want us to tell them what our City Council District should look like.

Luckily, there already is a proposed alternative map of City Council districts that will keep Hell’s Kitchen whole.

It’s called the

Unity Map

and it was put together by a coalition of leading legal voting rights advocacy organizations representing Hispanic, Black and Asian communities.

People from all over Hell’s Kitchen are signing up to support the Unity Map because it preserves our diversity and keeps our neighborhood whole.

Will you join us?

Time is short. We need 100 people to testify to get Commission members to change their minds. Other neighborhoods have been successful with this kind of turnout in getting the Commission to change the map and so can we.

The public hearing for Manhattan is

Aug. 22, 2022, 5:30 to 9:00 PM

At the Schomburg Center

515 Malcolm X Boulevard

(135th Street and Lenox Avenue)

Take the 2 or 3 train

to 135th Street

(plus 1 minute walk)

You can also take the

A or C train to 135th Street

(plus 10 minute walk)

You can also speak at any of the hearings:

Register Here to Testify

(You must register by midnight on Sunday, August 21 if you plan to testify virtually or in person on Aug. 22.)

Hell’s Kitchen Democrats, the progressive political club in Hell’s Kitchen that advocates for our neighborhood’s political interests, has offered to work with you on your testimony if you’d like. They will also be organizing people to travel and testify together. Email them at hkdemsnyc+redistricting@gmail.com so we can coordinate our efforts.

Here is a sample of testimony that would be appropriate:

(You can also find more detailed tips for testimony here)

Please share this website

onehellskitchen.org

with all your friends in the area and urge them to testify.

Thank You!