Community boards of New York City

Community Boards are defined as public bodies and governmental agencies under law, however they act in an advisory capacity, wielding no official authority to make or enforce laws. Such applications include those that involve city land or facilities, changes to zoning, and the use of public street and sidewalks. The Board of Standards and Appeals generally has jurisdiction over special-use permits of a local nature (along with zoning variances), such as for gas stations, clubs, camps and public utility installations, and its approval process deviates from the ULURP by allowing community and borough boards to review and recommend applications; the City Planning Commission retains jurisdiction for projects that have greater impact or involve planning issues beyond the local neighborhood. Projects that are "as-of-right" (i.e. the city has no discretion) are not subject to community review. The City Charter also allows community boards to submit their own plans for the development, growth, and improvement of their communities. However, few community boards have taken advantage of this ability. Community boards serve as mobilizing institutions for communities opposed to specific projects. Boards constantly gather needs of improvements to capital investment and government services through its various committees and meetings held throughout the year. Public hearings are held by the boards to allow a chance for the public community input between September and October before the final submission. From June to August, boards review their needs within and consult with agencies on the capital and expense priorities through two opportunities, one in the late Spring at the board/district level with district managers and committee members; and the other in September and October at the borough level. Draft submissions are submitted for feedback between August and September. By late October, the final submission is sent to DCP and requests are reviewed by the Mayor's Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Between January and March agencies respond and boards will have an opportunity to reply back. The Mayor releases the preliminary budget by January 16 which includes agency funding recommendations from community board requests. A month later by February 15, public hearings are held by the boards to create an assessment of responsiveness of the preliminary budget. In the same month, a compressive statement is submitted by the borough board, outlining budget priorities of the borough prior to Borough President's executive budget submission. In May, the City Council holds public hearings on the Executive Budget before the Mayor's Executive Budget published on April 26 and the budget is adopted by the City Council on June 5. In June, OMB publishes the Register of Community Board Requests for the Executive Budget containing the final dispositions are released for boards to review and used reevaluate needs in the next cycle. == Structure ==

Each board is composed of up to 50 volunteer members, with half of the membership appointed by the local borough president each year. One half of the appointees are chosen on the volition of the borough president, and half from nominations by City Council members representing the community district (i.e., whose council districts cover part of the community district). The minimum age to become a board member was lowered to 16 years old in 2014. In November 2018 voters overwhelmingly approved term limits of 4 consecutive 2-years stints. After 2 years off the Board, members are eligible to be reappointed. Appointments to the board are usually made each spring. Committees Each community board has committees that do most of the planning and work on the issues that are brought to action at board meetings. DSC meetings are not subject to New York's Open Meetings Law and therefore need not be open to the public. ==History==

The 1898 Charter of the City of Greater New York gave the Municipal Assembly the power and duty to number and name 22 districts of local improvements, which were at that time coterminous with the senatorial districts of the city but whose boundaries the Municipal Assembly had the power to modify. Each district was under the purview of a Board of Local Improvements, also known as a "local board", which was composed of the district's Borough President and the members of the Municipal Assembly in the district, who all served without compensation. The 1901 Charter, effective January 1, 1902, increased the number of districts to 25 and gave them their numbers and names. These districts comprised various Wards of New York City and senatorial districts. The local boards remained composed of the Borough President and each alderman in the district, and they continued to serve in the boards without compensation. In 1918 their number was reduced to 24 and they were thereafter based on aldermanic districts. The 1938 Charter imposed a City Council elected by borough-wide proportional representation; Local Improvement Boards thereafter comprised the Borough President and each member of the Council elected from the Borough, and numbered nine in Manhattan, eight in Brooklyn, four in the Bronx, two in Queens, and one in Staten Island. The 1963 revision of the New York City Charter extended the Borough of Manhattan's "Community Planning Councils" (est. 1951) to the outer boroughs as "Community Planning Boards", which are now known as "Community Boards". The 1975 revision of the New York City (NYC) Charter set the number of Community Districts/Boards to 59, established the position of the district manager for the community districts, and created the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) (pronounced "you-lurp") which gave the community boards the authority to review land use proposals such as zoning actions, and special permits. Plans submitted under this rule are known as "197-a" plans. The 2018 NYC Charter Revision Commission proposed term limits for community board members. The term limits proposal was one of three measures pertaining to the Charter that were up for a vote as part of the November 2018 elections. It, additionally, required borough presidents to seek out persons of diverse backgrounds for appointment. NYC voters resoundingly elected to place term limits on community board members. After Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo suspended in-person government meetings in 2020 by declaring a state of emergency at the dawn of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York, the City's 59 boards migrated to online video platforms such as Webex and Zoom. In 2021, when boards were threatened with the prospect of resuming meetings in person despite civic engagement soaring after going virtual and the ongoing health crisis, some openly declared their intent to break state law to keep meeting online, resulting in Governor Kathy Hochul signing legislation to extend virtual public meetings. ==See also==