As we wrote about yesterday, perhaps no one lost more in the new Congressional maps put out yesterday than Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries.

The Brooklyn lawmaker has been putting a campaign together for months, lined up union support and taking the fight to incumbent Democrat Ed Towns, only to find not only his Assembly district carved out of the new Congressional district but a lot of neighborhoods he was expected to run strong in as well.

So today Mr. Jeffries has filed a petition with Judge Roanne Mann, asking her to reconsider.

“I write to strongly object to the proposed congressional lines recently presented by the court,” Mr. Jeffries says in a letter, noting that the neighborhoods of Fort Greene and Clinton–part of his neighborhood base–have long been a community of interest with neighboring Bed-Stuy, while the new maps pairs the neighborhoods with Gerritsen Beach, Gravesend and Howard Beach.

As “communities of interests” these three neighborhoods have benefited from existing within the  same congressional district for approximately three decades and should remain together.  Consistent with the legal objective of preserving “communities of interests” and continuity of  representation, it is unclear why the proposed congressional map for the new NY-8 jettisons Fort Greene and Clinton Hill (as well as parts of Prospect Heights) and replaces them with  neighborhoods in the far reaches of Brooklyn and Queens, including Gerritsen Beach,  Gravesend, Georgetown, Ozone Park Woodhaven and Howard Beach. This mismatched marriage does not appear to serve the best interests of any of the residents involved.”

Full letter below:

Pub-Assemblymember Hakeem Jeffries- Response to Proposed Plan

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