No halt to Council election petitioning for now following suit over Queens district lines, judge rules

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A Manhattan Supreme Court judge ruled on Monday that petitioning for the upcoming City Council primaries, set to begin Tuesday, can move forward after a legal defense group filed a suit seeking to delay signature gathering in a bid to alter the council maps approved after last year’s redistricting.

The group, Democracy Program Director of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), brought the suit over allegations that the city Districting Commission that drew the new council maps violated the City Charter by carving up Asian communities in the Queens neighborhoods of Richmond Hill and South Ozone Park into three separate districts.