Juggling Tires, Teapots, Burning Torches, and Pennies: The Challenge of Defining The “Communities of Interest” Criterion in Municipal Redistricting

decision to invalidate the Legislature-drawn State Senate and Congressional maps. 4 Not until February 2024 did New York finalize its district lines for 2024 and the rest of the decade. 5 Because of the process' national implications, the media and academics have thus-understandably-spilled countless drops of ink on the pitfalls of New York's state-led redistricting process. 6 Yet Upstate New York's three largest municipalities-Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse-added additional fireworks to the state's 2020 redistricting extravaganza.In Buffalo, grassroots groups staunchly opposed the Common Council's efforts at keeping a number of peculiarly-shaped districts intact. 7 In Monroe County (home to Rochester), the