Changes proposed to local Assembly districts

Proposed new State Assembly district maps could drastically alter representation in western Nassau County — and split Lynbrook virtually in half — if the maps become law. However, it would put virtually every home with a Valley Stream address into the same district.

Last week, the New York State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment released its tentative plan for the state’s 150 Assembly districts. The changes are part of the redistricting that is required after the release of the 2010 census, and would take effect for the November election.

The districts now represented by assemblymen Brian Curran and Edward Ra, the 14th and the 21st, respectively, would change significantly, while a new district would be created along the western edge of the county.

Curran, a former mayor of Lynbrook and, like Ra, a first-term assemblyman, said he does not want to see his hometown divided into two districts. Lynbrook would be split between the 21st District and a new 22nd District, and Curran, if re-elected, would represent the 21st.

“I think it’s an error in judgment for them to split the village,” Curran said, adding that he planned to petition to have Lynbrook kept in a single district. “I’m going to ask them to reconsider — and I hope they do.”

The redrawn 21st District would stretch from Lynbrook to Freeport and include the southern half of Franklin Square.

Lynbrook Mayor Bill Hendrick said that he is not happy with the proposed maps. “I don’t like Lynbrook being sliced in half,” he said. “I don’t like my downtown area in one district and my residents in another.”

Hendrick pointed out that Curran, whose district has until now covered all of Lynbrook, is familiar with the community. “It’s not beneficial to the residents not to have one person being their champion upstate,” Hendrick said.