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COURIER LIFE, APRIL 8-14, 2022
BY JERRY KASSAR
New York Democrats just got caught
being exceedingly undemocratic, and
New Yorkers of all political persuasions
should be grateful for it.
In a blistering State Supreme Court decision
over the Democrat’s extreme partisan
redistricting plan that would limit viable
political options for New York voters
over the next decade, State Supreme Court
Justice Patrick F. McAllister excoriated
Democrats:
“Gerrymandering discrimination
hurts everyone because it tends to silence
minority voices,” he wrote. “Then none of
us receives the benefit from the input of
the silenced. Imagine a society where only
Democrats are able to work on cancer research
or only Republicans could be board
certified as heart surgeons. Imagine all
the accomplishments and discoveries that
would never come to pass because the majority
thought it best to eliminate minority
positions or views.”
Some New Yorkers may be confused
about the proposed decennial congressional,
state senate and assembly reapportionment
lines — and for good reason.
OP-ED
Didn’t we just pass a Constitutional
amendment to create an Independent
State Redistricting Commission (IRC) to
stop all this partisan nonsense?
We did, indeed, in 2014, but the Democrats,
who control both houses of the state
legislature and the executive chamber,
summarily rejected proposed IRC lines.
Instead of hearing the will of the voters,
Democrats, led by Governor Kathy Hochul,
used legislative tricks and the blunt
power of their majorities to force through
lines that would virtually guarantee Democrat
wins for the next 10 years in all but a
handful of New York districts.
Judge McAllister didn’t buy it: “The
court finds by clear evidence and beyond
a reasonable doubt that the congressional
map was unconstitutionally drawn with
political bias in violation of Art. Ill §4(c)
(5),” he ruled on Thursday.
The Democrats, predictably, have appealed,
so this fight is nowhere near over.
This isn’t the first time New York Democrats
have worked against the will of the
voters to consolidate power. Last year,
New Yorkers overwhelmingly rejected a
set of ballot initiatives that would have
weakened boards of election’s ability to
stop voter fraud and allowed Democrats
to circumvent IRC lines. Within days of
that vote, Mrs. Hochul signed legislation
to subvert the voters’ decision.
A year before, Democrats — again using
the blunt power of their super majority
in Albany — set out to eliminate third
party ballot lines by drastically increasing
the required vote threshold to establish
a recognized political party in New
York State. Only the Conservative and
Working Families Party survived the
purge.
All these actions reveal the Democratic
Party’s naked ambition for New
York. They will make this a one-party
state come hell or high water, the will of
the voters be damned.
But New York faces daunting economic,
criminal justice and educational challenges,
and all voices and ideas should be
welcome at the table of public discourse.
Voters — not politicians — can then decide
the direction in which they wish to
take the state.
It’s called democracy.
Every New Yorker — liberal, conservative
or moderate — should hope the State
Court of Appeals affirms Thursday’s Supreme
Court decision. Voters deserve options.
Jerry Kassar is Chairman of the New
York State Conservative Party
“Whose child is next?”
Mayor Eric Adams
asked Monday while
standing in Brooklyn with the
families of two victims of the rampant
gun violence plaguing New
York City — including the mother
of a 12-year-old boy killed.
Kade Lewin was simply sitting
in his aunt’s car, eating food
on the night of March 31 when
they were caught in a hail of
bullets fired by armed cowards
on the streets of East Flatbush.
Lewin succumbed to his injuries;
his aunt continues recovering
from physical injuries, though
she may never recover from the
anguish of such a horrific loss.
Adams’ question, initially
asked by Lewin’s relatives, reflects
the unfortunate reality of
gun violence in New York City,
and that tragically, it’s only
a matter of time before someone
else’s child is caught in the
deadly crossfire.
Joining Adams at the press
conference were Public Advocate
Jumaane Williams and City
Council Member Mercedes Narcisse,
both of whom were vocal in
their condemnation of the gun violence
and in demanding greater
resources to put an end to the
horrors that residents in bulletriddled
neighborhoods face every
day.
The Adams administration
and the NYPD say they’re doing
their part to counter the surge in
gun violence, sending in teams
of police officers to target gun
criminals in precincts that have
seen a rise in shootings of late.
The NYPD has made more gun
arrests in the past year than ever
before, and they’re fighting the
influx of homemade “ghost guns”
sold on the Internet to just about
anyone, and are incredibly difficult
to trace.
But the city’s efforts alone
are not enough. Even the promise
of assistance from the federal
and state governments are not
enough. Every New Yorker must
step up in their own way and
speak out against the danger.
Too often, in reports of gun
violence we receive, police note
that victims and witnesses were
uncooperative with detectives
looking for the suspects. Too often,
people retreat into silence
and shut themselves inside their
homes, fearful that whatever
they say may come with consequences.
Nothing’s going to change in
this city without a united front
against gun violence. New Yorkers
who are sick and tired of the
bullets and bloodshed have to
come forward and help police
catch the cowardly shooters.
They must also take back
their own streets through neighborhood
watches and violence interrupter
operations. They must
also reach out to young people
and steer them away from lives
of crime.
We can make every corner of
this city safe from gun violence
and peaceful for all residents if
we have the collective will to do
so. Without that drive, we are left
only to ask that haunting question:
“Whose child is next?”
EDITORIAL
Stop violence together
New Yorkers deserve political options
“But New York faces daunting economic, criminal justice
and educational challenges, and all voices and ideas should
be welcome at the table of public discourse. Voters — not
politicians — can then decide the direction in which they
wish to take the state.”
LET US HEAR FROM YOU: Submit letters to: Meaghan McGoldrick, Editor,
Courier Life,
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you sent the letter. We reserve the right to edit all correspondence, which becomes the property of Courier Life.
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