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New Senate Lines Draw Addabbo Out of Rockaway 


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Senator Joseph P. Addabbo Jr. will no longer represent Rockaway.

New court-approved district lines for the New York State Senate will shake up Rockaway, and will force State Senator Joseph Addabbo, a second generation elected official who has represented the peninsula for the better part of 20 years, out of the area and out of the running for the new district. 

“It sucks,” Senator Addabbo told The Wave, “I am frustrated and angry, there’s a lot of emotions here.” 

After months of new drafts, contentious disagreements, and the repeated handing off of the responsibility, courts upheld maps drawn by court-appointed Special Master, ​​Jonathan Cervas.

However, Rockaway’s place in the State Senate will change. Currently, State Senators Joseph Addabbo and James Sanders Jr. make up the 15th and 10th Districts respectively. Addabbo has the West End and a chopped up section of southern Far Rockaway, while Sanders has the rest of Far Rockaway, and both districts include sections on mainland Queens. 

The new maps approved by the courts combine the entire peninsula into one senate district joined in with an area of Queens around JFK Airport similar to the area currently part of Sanders’ 10th. 

The new district lines slice Addabbo’s native Howard Beach in half, down Crossbay Boulevard, leaving him out of contention to represent the new district that encompasses the Rockaways’. 

Addabbo has already announced his running for the new 15th District. 

“I am prepared to continue my dedication to public service,” Addabbo said in a statement. “I have represented most of the communities within the 15th District for my entire tenure in the Senate, and some for even longer going back to my days in the City Council 20 years ago. Even though the lines have changed, my mission remains the same, with my office team and I looking forward to continuing to represent the interests of my constituents legislatively in Albany and to ensure that their concerns are heard and addressed locally.”

However, Addabbo has had a footing in Rockaway for most of his career, and although he has been redistricted out before, he has always wound up back. 

“I’ve gotten to see people’s children grow up over twenty years, I am going to miss that,” he said, adding that the new maps also chop up his Howard Beach into thirds. 

“It doesn’t serve the people well,” he said. 

With Addabbo out of contention geographically, that leaves State Senator James Sanders Jr. as the sole representative in the State Senate, and he will be running to keep control of the 10th district.  

“The dream of one Rockaway has come true,” he said, giving credit to his longtime partner in Albany. 

“Addabbo has been a consistent voice for the Rockaways, if I ever miss a point, he catches it..he’s a good guy,” he said. 

Although Sanders has a steady footing in the Eastern end of the peninsula, he will need to campaign to represent the entirety of the West End. He previously oversaw that area as the District 27 School Board President. 

“To the old-timers, I’m no stranger,” he said, “I get to introduce myself to a new generation of leaders.”

State Senator James Sanders Jr. is running to keep his 10th District seat.

However, Sanders has an uphill climb, the political affiliations of his new district lines drastically shift to the right, and it has been some time, at least five elections since he has had to run in a general election. 

“I’ve always enjoyed a debate on principles…I look forward to it,” he said, adding he hopes to sit down with community leaders, “Don’t be surprised if I walk into the Republican Club, there may be some good ideas there.” 

Currently, there are no Republican candidates. 

As for Joe Addabbo, his previous district encompasses 65 percent of his new one, and he does plan to return to Rockaway. 

“I’ll be back as a visitor,” he said, with an eye toward the next redistricting process in a decade. 

“Maybe I’ll be back.” 

There is an ongoing lawsuit directed at the lines for state assembly, so the lines for Assembly Members Stacey Pheffer-Amato and Khaleel Anderson are yet to be finalized. 

To view the new district lines, please view them here – https://tinyurl.com/3vh85fea

 

 

 

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