{"id":121628,"date":"2026-02-03T18:45:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T18:45:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/121628\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T18:45:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T18:45:13","slug":"the-battle-over-new-yorks-11th-congressional-district-lines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/121628\/","title":{"rendered":"The battle over New York\u2019s 11th Congressional District lines"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Staten Island resident in New Dorp Beach flies a pro-Donald Trump flag, May 2, 2024. Photo: Ben Fractenberg\/THE CITY<\/p>\n

An independent commission charged by a judge to redraw the boundaries of New York\u2019s 11th Congressional District has paused its work due to a pending appeal of the issue, the group\u2019s staff told THE CITY.<\/p>\n

That means it\u2019s unlikely the bipartisan group, the Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC), will meet the deadline of this Friday previously set by a judge for convening and redrawing the congressional map. And the pause also throws into flux the timeline for when the boundaries of the district will be set as candidates are already preparing to petition later this month to get on the primary ballot in June.<\/p>\n

Supreme Court Judge Jeffrey Pearlman of Manhattan set Feb. 6 as the date for the IRC to submit its congressional map proposal in his Jan. 24 ruling<\/a>, which found that the district was drawn unconstitutionally. But the IRC has not yet met or scheduled a meeting due to pending appeals filed by Republicans, the commission\u2019s co-executive directors Doug Breakell and Karen Blatt said Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe commission intends to comply with any lawful order of the court and is assessing the process and timeline necessary to do so. Additional information regarding meetings or next steps will be shared publicly once it becomes available,\u201d Blatt said by email.<\/p>\n

The appeal comes from Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, who filed an emergency appeal last week in two different New York appellate courts over the judge\u2019s decision. She represents the 11th Congressional District as the lone Republican member of New York City\u2019s congressional delegation and joined the lawsuit last fall due to her interest in the case.<\/p>\n

\"Congressional<\/a>Congressional Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Brooklyn, Staten Island) spoke in Bay Ridge around concerns over crime, Oct. 20, 2022. Photo: Ben Fractenberg\/THE CITY<\/p>\n

The district currently includes all of Staten Island and parts of southern Brooklyn. If it is redrawn, it could have major implications for not only that district, but also neighboring Brooklyn and Manhattan districts where candidates are already lining up to run<\/a> for this year\u2019s primary elections.<\/p>\n

Petitioners in the suit argued that the district should include parts of southern Manhattan instead of southern Brooklyn, a configuration that could move parts of Rep. Dan Goldman\u2019s current district into the 11th district.<\/p>\n

Pearlman found the district unconstitutional because it dilutes the voting power of Black and Brown residents.<\/p>\n

One of the people named as a plaintiff in the suit is longtime public housing leader on the Lower East Side Aixa Torres, who said she was surprised by the latest outcome.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t think we were going to win,\u201d she said. She currently lives in Lower Manhattan\u2019s District 10 whose boundaries could change with the redistricting. \u201cBeing part of this lawsuit was speaking up and bringing to light an injustice that\u2019s being done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Malliotakis is seeking to immediately appeal the decision in both the middle level New York Supreme Court, where the lawsuit was filed, and the New York State Court of Appeals \u2014 the state\u2019s highest court. Malliotakis also filed a stay pending appeal in both appellate courts to pause the enforcement of Pearlman\u2019s order, arguing it would cause \u201cimmediate irreparable harm.\u201d<\/p>\n

The IRC is waiting for direction from both appellate courts on how to proceed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s often typical in redistricting litigation that decision-making comes down to the wire,\u201d said Jeff Wice, a professor at the New York Law School and the director of the New York Elections, Census and Redistricting Institute. \u201cBefore then, there\u2019s just a wait-and-see period that frustrates the parties on both sides.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to court documents, Malliotakis and state Republicans have indicated they will file an appeal before the Supreme Court if they do not hear from the appellate courts by Feb. 10.<\/p>\n

They argue the urgency behind the appeals is to give the Supreme Court enough time to decide the case before Feb. 24, when candidates will begin collecting signatures to get on the ballot for the 2026 congressional election \u2014 a process called petitioning. District boundaries must be set in place by then so candidates can collect signatures for the proper districts.<\/p>\n

But plaintiffs have asked the appeals to be dismissed, arguing that it is unusual for an appeal to be filed simultaneously in two courts, and that it is too early to involve the Court of Appeals, known as \u201cthe court of last resort.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Court of Appeals has ordered both parties to submit briefs over whether it has jurisdiction to decide the case by Feb. 4.<\/p>\n

Commissioners Seek Consensus<\/p>\n

If the courts clear the IRC to do its work, it will still have a long road ahead.<\/p>\n

The commission is composed of four Democrats, four Republicans and two additional members who cannot be members of either party. The Democratic commissioners may be amenable to the order to reconvene and draw a new map, but the Republicans may oppose it, Wice explained.<\/p>\n

Even if the commission were to draw up a new map in a few days, a finalized congressional map will not happen overnight.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor all of them, it\u2019s a major challenge,\u201d Wice said. \u201cYou need to really stay tuned, because there\u2019s so much up in the air that\u2019s uncertain until we see how the players take their steps and play this out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Judge Perlman\u2019s decision, Wice noted, did not specify what would happen after the IRC\u2019s deadline for producing a new map. If higher courts do not reverse Pearlman\u2019s decision, he will rule on the next steps in the redistricting process\u00a0once the commission draws a map \u2014 or if it fails to agree on one. In theory, he could decide to send a redrawn map to the legislature for approval, or appoint a special mapmaker if the commission cannot reach a consensus.<\/p>\n

The commission has a recent history<\/a> of failing to reach an agreement. Lawmakers took over<\/a> the process in 2022 after the commissioners split down party lines and sent two partisan map proposals to the legislature.<\/p>\n

The IRC came into being via statewide approval<\/a> from voters in 2014 for district reapportionments that typically occur once every decade. It is meant to be independent from elected officials and uses the U.S. census population to apportion New Yorkers.<\/p>\n

Since Pearlman\u2019s decision, Judge State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie appointed Marricka Scott-McFadden on Jan. 26, a former deputy Bronx borough president, to fill a vacancy on the commission.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"U.S.
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMalliotakis appeals NY judge\u2019s ruling to redraw Congressional District 11 map<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJanuary 30 |
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJaime DeJesus\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"The
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRepublicans appeal decision that threw out NYC\u2019s only GOP-controlled House district<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJanuary 27 |
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Associated Press\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Republican
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRepublican candidate for governor Bruce Blakeman visits Sunset Park residents, business owners<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJanuary 26 |
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJaime DeJesus\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGillibrand, Schumer call on Trump to reverse childcare funding cancellation<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJanuary 23 |
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBrooklyn Eagle Staff\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\tLeave a Comment\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Staten Island resident in New Dorp Beach flies a pro-Donald Trump flag, May 2, 2024. Photo: Ben…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":121629,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[48963,858,34697,12060,9,24,55,54,887,56,87,2134,53289],"class_list":["post-121628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-11th-congressional-district","tag-congress","tag-congressional-district","tag-election-elections","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-nicole-malliotakis","tag-ny","tag-politics","tag-republicans","tag-the-city"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121628\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}