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Opinion Thanks to Our Friends and New Neighbors Hundreds of readers, friends, supporters and community residents turned out for the open house celebration of the restoration of the Reservoir Keeper's House, the new home of the Norwood News, and its publisher, Mosholu Preservation Corporation. The offices of the Jerome- Gun Hill Business Improvement District, which MPC manages, and programs run by the Mosholu Montefiore Community Center will also occupy the house. We were especially delighted to meet so many of our new neighbors, virtually all of whom said they had long wanted to see the inside of the house they had grown up around. While we are thrilled with the restoration of our historic new home, we also hope that it's only the beginning of a renaissance in this section of Norwood. Nothing would make us happier than for the confidence we have in the community's ability to improve and reinvent itself to rub off on those landlords, homeowners, and merchants who may not think it's worth it to improve their properties. MPC has already been working to improve the northern section of Williamsbridge Oval Park alongside our neighbors. And only a couple of doors down, we will be working this year to restore the old Gun Hill Synagogue for programs for children. We are inspired by the interest in and support of this project by community residents. MPC, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, looks forward to working with all of you to make our community an even better place in the months and years ahead. Mapping Norwood's Future Now that figures from the 2000 Census are emerging, the state legislature will soon be sinking its teeth into redistricting. Since Democrats control the Assembly and Republicans the state Senate, the primary objective of each party is to keep their majority intact. Therefore, the redrawing of legislative district lines has more to do with the needs of incumbents than the interest of constituents. "You keep this district Democratic (meaning a heavy preponderance of Democratic voters) and we'll keep that one Republican," is the mantra repeated over and over. The result is the status quo. Unlike many other states, where nonpartisan commissions hold public hearings and do their best to insulate redistricting from petty party politics, voters in New York have little or no say in this process. If they did, maybe their priorities would be different from those of their elected officials. Norwood residents, for example, might be more concerned that their contiguous community of 30,000 is carved up into two Assembly districts and two Senate districts. Why shouldn't what would be a small city, were it not in a city, have one elected official representing in the Senate, the Assembly or both? Norwood is now used only for spare parts by the political cartographers in Albany. Need a few thousand people to make another community politically whole? Take it from Norwood! A lot of this is Norwood's own fault. We don't vote nearly as much as our neighbors to the east and west. If we did turn out in greater numbers on Election Day we would have more pull with our elected officials and more clout in political matters like redistricting. Norwood has a long way to go, but each resident can start by getting registered to vote and making sure your friends and neighbors are registered, too. Just call (212) VOTE-NYC. Ask them to send you a voter registration form. Fill it out. Send it back. And then vote. It's that simple. As one of our local elected officials once said, "Politicians don't count people. They count votes." So vote and be counted!
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