Some alterations were made to satisfy the demands of civic groups and minority advocacy organizations, but, at first glance, many were not.

In Bayside, Queens, Asian-American civic groups are likely still upset that a section below the neighborhood home to a growing Asian population was not included in the district represented by Councilman Dan Halloran. In Brooklyn, former district leader Lincoln Restler's chances took a hit when a change to unite Hasidic communities in south Williamsburg and north Bedford-Stuyvesant was included in the final map, giving incumbent Councilman Steve Levin a stronger base of support. And Manhattan Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito, a vocal critic of the redistricting process, had Randall's Island and a section of East Harlem restored to her district as she had demanded.

View the maps for yourself below:

Manhattan:

NYC Council Maps February 6 Plan for Manhattan by

Brooklyn:

NYC Council Maps February 6 Plan for Brooklyn by

Bronx:

NYC Council Maps February 6 Plan for the Bronx by

Queens:

NYC Council Maps February 6 Plan for Queens by

Staten Island:

NYC Council Maps February 6 Plan for Staten Island by

(photo: lohud.com)

At the end of December, the Journal News published a detailed map cataloging all of the handgun permit owners in Westchester and Rockland counties, a move that caused much controversy among both gun rights and privacy advocates who felt the map placed figurative targets on the highlighted households. This evening, the publication announced it was was pulling the map, but claimed it was due to New York State's new gun control law, passed at the start of the week, rather than a response to criticism.

"Today The Journal News has removed the permit data from lohud.com. Our decision to do so is not a concession to critics that no value was served by the posting of the map in the first place," Journal News publisher Janet Hasson explained. "On the contrary, we’ve heard from too many grateful community members to consider our decision to post information contained in the public record to have been a mistake. Nor is our decision made because we were intimidated by those who threatened the safety of our staffers. We know our business is a controversial one, and we do not cower."

Because handgun permit information is now classified as private information, not subject to Freedom of Information Law requests, Ms. Hasson said that the map simply lost value to the newspaper's readers.

"But the database has been public for 27 days and we believe those who wanted to view it have done so already," she continued. "As well, with the passage of time, the data will become outdated and inaccurate....[W]e will keep a snapshot of our map--with all its red dots-- on our website to remind the community that guns are a fact of life we should never forget."

Update (7:12 p.m.): Senator Greg Ball, who has waged a passionate crusade against the Journal News' map, released a statement entitled, "VICTORY AGAINST IDIOCY AT JOURNAL NEWS":

"Thank God the Journal News has finally realized the error in their judgment and done the right thing. Whether they did this responding to the public's outcry or because they were simply fearful of getting sued due to the rash of burglaries and threats against law enforcement and victims of domestic violence, we will never know. Regardless, I am proud to have passed legislation keeping the Journal News from doing this ever again and proud to have been shoulder to shoulder with thousands of residents who were dealt a crappy hand by the eggheads at the Journal News. I look forward to them creating an interactive map of level three sexual predators, rapists and felons with illegal gun purchases, but I won't hold my breath."

(Photo: Facebook)

State Senator Greg Ball, hasn't been quiet about his disagreement with the Journal News' decision to publish the names and addresses of handgun owners in Westchester and Rockland counties and he isn't done with the publication just yet. Mr. Ball, who began his day by tweeting, "Woooohooooooo!!! Get up! Hook up! Shuffle to the door! One day closer to victory! One day closer to more! Get 'em!" continued his energized performance in the opening moments of a K104 radio interview, declaring, "I'm motivated! How about you? Ready for a push-up contest?"

("Glad he didn't come into the studio," one of the hosts remarked after Mr. Ball left.)

On the show, Mr. Ball repeatedly argued the Journal News is fundamentally flawed news organization, while addressing the various points of criticism against them.

"You've got to understand, the Journal News is just a liberal, liberal, liberal rag. I think, Amy, I called them 'egg-heats' not 'boneheads,' but both apply, "Mr. Ball said, for example, after he was asked to explain a "bonehead" comment he allegedly made. "They're to the left of the left."

The state senator also mocked the publication for hiring armed guards in the wake of the controversy despite the fact the paper was threatened with an envelope of white powder yesterday.

"In their ivory tower view of the world, which is so screwed up, they actually believe...that law-abiding gun owners, who are paying their taxes and protecting their family, they believe from their ivory tower that they're a bunch of yahoos. They believe that they are part of the problem," Mr. Ball continued. "God forbid they post an interactive map of those who have a prior, illegal history of purchasing illegal firearms, which are attributed to over 95 percent of the crimes. They didn't do that. That would have been too tough. They take people who are obeying the law and publicly expose them. The minute that they get a little heat in their direction, and their names and addresses are out there, they become staunch defenders of the Second Amendment and hire mercenaries with guns to protect them! These bigwigs at the Journal News now have armed guards.

Mr. Ball also expressed disbelief that Putnam County, which has resisted the Journal News' request for handgun owners' names and addresses, will fold. Indeed, Mr. Ball will be holding a press conference later today to emphasize that point.

"The Journal News can come on in with their snot-nosed attorneys and do whatever the hell they want, but I can tell you, from this state senator, it'll be a cold day in hell before I bend to the Journal News," he said, adding when asked if he has ever had a conversation with the organization, "There are a lot of good reporters at the Journal News. Having a conversation with the editors of the Journal News, I mean, I'd rather have a root canal. I do have the opportunity to go before them every two years and ask for an endorsement that I wouldn't accept if it came with a million dollars."

At the end, Mr. Ball was asked if he thought relations would ever warm between himself and the Journal News.

"The Journal News can kiss my white, Irish, you-know-what," he replied.

Although the commission is technically independent, its lines usually favor the City Council establishment, which appoints many of its members. Accordingly, at an immediate glance, the maps do not appear to be massively different from the draft proposal released earlier this year, which protected most existing legislators, with a couple exceptions.

View below:

Brooklyn:

Earlier this afternoon, Brooklyn elected officials and activists gathered to protest the court's draft redistricting map for Congressional lines, and Councilman Charles Barron, as usual, was the most outspoken member of the crowd.

Mr. Barron, who's running for Congress himself, made it clear his first issue was the term "Special Master" used to describe the court's redistricting expert assisting int he drafting.

"I think the first thing we got to do is stop calling the judge 'Master,'" he declared. "Trying to draw us back on the plantation. So I'm going to say 'judge,' because we have no master."

"It is obvious that these drawing are racist," he continued, before analyzing the demographics in districts across the state.

"In the white districts: 96.5% white, 86.3% white, 70% white, 84% white. In 13 of these districts, the white majority population in those districts goes from 70% to 96%, to protect those districts, to make sure that those whites stay in office," he said.

This all contrasts, Mr. Barron contended, with the district he lives in, where the black percentage of the population declined relative to the white population.

Although it was inevitable these majority-black districts would be diluted somewhat in redistricting -- the African-American population of Brooklyn decreased, after all -- Mr. Barron saw it as a deliberate attempt to weaken the black community's voice.

"Every one of our few Congressional Districts are now in trouble if there's a coalition of other communities that come together that want to disempower blacks and Latinos," he concluded.

"This is an attack on Martin Luther King, on Rosa Parks, on Fannie Lou Hamer. Of all of those who came before us. And we say, 'No, we cannot allow this to happen.'"

Watch Mr. Barron make his remarks below:

Notably in New York City, GOP Congressman Michael Grimm's district is a touch more conservative, while the new district created in Queens, which both Assemblyman Rory Lancman and Congressman Gary Ackerman have their sights set for, looks solidly Democratic. More of Republican Rep. Bob Turner's old territory is in this new district than anywhere else, but it would be a significantly uphill battle if he sought reelection there.

View the full breakdown below: