Prospect Heights To Be Included in New Congressional District

Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries, D-Prospect Heights, hailed a revised draft of a proposed Congressional district released late Monday night that includes Prospect Heights, Clinton Hill, and Fort Greene in a new Central Brooklyn district.

"[Federal Magistrate] Judge [Roanne] Mann clearly acknowledged that keeping communities of interest together is paramount to a fair and just redistricting process and the court should be commended," he said.

The revision buoyed Jeffries' candidacy for the seat held by Rep. Edolphus "Ed" Towns, D-Brooklyn, since the new lines will be roughly contiguous with the old 10th Congressional District.

A previous redistricting proposal had threatened Jeffries' candidacy by separating the areas that he represents in the Assembly from the district that he seeks to represent in Congress.

Last Thursday, Jeffries joined other African and Caribbean-American elected officials  in Downtown Brooklyn, calling on Mann to back away from plans to roll the three neighborhoods into a district that stretched all the way to the Atlantic Ocean.

At the event, Jeffries framed the issue not as a case of personal electoral maneuvering but as an effort to defend a stronghold of black and Latino political power.

"This is a victory for the residents of Fort Greene and Clinton Hill who will benefit from the preservation of historically African-American, Central Brooklyn neighborhoods within the same Congressional district," Jeffries said.

For residents of Prospect Heights, the re-districting plan would mean being represented in Washington by either Towns or Jeffries, rather than by Yvette D. Clarke.

The judicial panel in charge of Congressional redistricting hopes to have a map finalized by March 20, when the petitioning period for House candidates is scheduled to begin in advance of the June primary.

Towns, through a spokesman, declined to comment on the redistricting process on Tuesday.