URIS LIBRARY—Continuing the ongoing “redistricting war” by responding to actions from the Texas legislature and California Governor Gavin Newsom, New York Governor Kathy Hochul has unveiled a plan of her own to give Democrats a partisan advantage in her state. The plan, which will carve Ithaca into four new districts, also cuts right through Cornell’s campus, removing 15 seats from Uris Library.
In a statement, New York State Democratic leadership defended the move, arguing that removing 15 seats from the library would allow them to place them somewhere more politically advantageous, like a storage unit or broom closet.
Cornell students have voiced their opposition to the move, believing that it empowers politicians while targeting a highly vulnerable community currently looking for seats in the A.D. White Reading Room.
“It’s already hard enough to find a spot during finals week as it is,” said Anne Mahoney ‘27, who had no choice but to study in the library entryway’s fireplace.
Despite this pushback, Governor Hochul has remained defiant, vowing to keep moving things around until the new configuration both secures new seats for her party and doesn’t look too awkward when photographed.
“I’m not going to let them change the rules of the game in the middle of a 10-year cycle just because Donald Trump told them to,” she said, lifting a chair that seated a crying freshman and placing it outside.
