Tonight a critical vote will decide New York City’s future council districts.  Social Explorer’s Andrew Beveridge writes about city redistricting in his latest Gotham Gazette column “Proposed City Council Districts Protect Incumbents.”

The once-a-decade drama of redistricting the New York City Council is almost complete, with a key vote on proposed maps by a commission appointed by the mayor and Council party leaders expected tonight.

Much is at stake, not for party control, but over who will represent many of the city’s increasingly diverse neighborhoods for the next decade beginning with the 2013 election. Redistricting must be undertaken after each federal decennial Census.

The current Council has 46 Democrats and five Republicans. In 2013, an additional 18 seats will be open due to the impact of the change in the city’s charter regarding term limits. How those districts are drawn will have a lot to do with recruiting new political leadership in New York City for the next decade.

Read the full article for more on for what’s at stake, an explanation of the city’s redistricting process and the players involved, and the demographic impact.