Espaillat: New York's congressional delegation needs more diversity
Adriano Espaillat. Espaillat via Facebook
12:11 pm Feb. 3, 20122
State Senator Adriano Espaillat thinks his proposed new district is ridiculous.
"According to the Senate Republicans, I now represent Madison Square Garden and Macy's," he said last night after Scott Stringer's State of the Borough speech.
Espaillat, a senator from upper Manhattan who served many years in the State Assembly, was laughing about the new neighborhoods he's being asked to represent.
The Senate redistricting plan unveiled recently by a legislative task force, guided by Republicans seeking to maximize their odds of hanging onto a narrow majority, has drawn lots of complaints. But for Espaillat, who is considering a run for Congress, critics focusing on how the lines were drawn should be more concerned with the results.
"I'll tell you what's egregious," he said. "What's egregious is that there's way over 3 million Latino New Yorkers in New York City and we only have two congressional seats. That's egregious. That's separate but equal. To have only two congressional members while you have a booming, almost four-million-person population, you have the same level of representation in Washington you had twenty years ago—that's egregious."
"This city has dramatically changed," he said. "I think both parties are equally wrong not to address those changes."
Interesting point!
I support Espaillat. Now that we are becoming the majority in NYC a Latino like Espaillat should be able to represent everyone else behind him. It is time for you to take a number!