Profiles in gerrymandering: Woodhaven, Kew Gardens and Richmond Hill

Redistricting Maps 3
From Queens Civic Congress:

Woodhaven / Richmond Hill / Kew Gardens

The Commission has proposed a wholesale shift in Council District representation for
Woodhaven, Richmond Hill and parts of Kew Gardens, moving well over 200 blocks
between the 28th, 29th 30th and 32nd Council Districts. The area is divided into five
neighborhoods (Figure 17): Woodhaven, Woodhaven North, Richmond Hill, Richmond
Hill North and Kew Gardens. All of Woodhaven and 1/3 of Woodhaven North is
presently located in the 32nd Council District, while the rest of Woodhaven North,
Richmond Hill North portions of Richmond Hill and Kew Gardens are located in the
30th. The rest of Kew Gardens and a portion of Richmond Hill are in the 29th, and the
remainder of Richmond Hill is located in the 28th (Figure 14).

The Council District boundaries proposed by the Commission (Figure 15) represents a
significant change in representation in what QCC believes to be not in the best interests of these important areas of Queens. The character of these neighborhoods is rather specific: Woodhaven North is comprised mostly of two-family detached houses, while the remainder of Woodhaven is more typically a mix of detached houses, rowhouses and small apartment buildings; Richmond Hill North is comprised mostly of one-family detached houses, while the remainder of the area is also similar mix to Woodhaven. Kew Gardens is largely split between areas containing large single-family houses, two-family rowhouses and six-story apartment buildings.

Richmond Hill North and Kew Gardens also have the distinction of being the first
suburban planned communities in Queens County, developed by the Man family between
1870 and 1930. These neighborhoods, which have tenacious civic organizations including the Kew Gardens Civic Association and the Richmond Hill Historical Society, are adamant about not being split between several Council Districts, and the Queens Civic Congress agrees with them.

The main natural and manmade boundaries in these neighborhoods are quite prominent
and obvious: The Brooklyn-Queens County line on the west; the Long Island Railroad
trestle between Woodhaven and Richmond Hill in the center; and the Van Wyck
Expressway on the east.

From north to south, the boundaries are Forest Park and the Jackie Robinson Parkway;
Jamaica Avenue, which acts as both a commercial center and a visual dividing line
(including in housing type) due to the elevated subway; and Atlantic Avenue on the
south. Additionally, Richmond Hill North and Kew Gardens have a specific boundary
line delineated when the areas were developed over a century ago.

QCC has proposed certain common sense boundary adjustments based upon the
geography and natural boundaries of these neighborhoods (Figure 16) which will cause
decreased disruption to the shape and content of the current Council Districts. We believe that, for the most part, Jamaica Avenue should act as the boundary between the 30th and 32nd Council Districts as it is being proposed between the 28th and 29th Council Districts; the only exception to this is a section between the Long Island Railroad trestle and 111th Street that would continue south to Atlantic Avenue, which would remain in the 30th Council District (which represents most of that area presently).

Additionally, the QCC proposes that a section of Woodhaven between Woodhaven
Boulevard and the Long Island Railroad from Jamaica to Atlantic avenues would be
moved to the 32nd Council District, as would an area of South Richmond Hill south of
Atlantic Avenue and east of the Long Island Railroad trestle (Figure 16).
The 29th and 30th Council District lines between Richmond Hill North and Kew Gardens
would also be shifted to reflect the actual boundary between these two discrete
neighborhoods.

Meanwhile, the Woodhaven Residents Block Association has its own proposal.