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My friend @JacobPriley asked a good question today: what do NYC's Borough Presidents ("BPs") actually do?
Here are some answers from the NYC Charter (reference: primarily §81-86)
Here are some answers from the NYC Charter (reference: primarily §81-86)
NYC's 5 BPs are elected officials who represent the entirety of each of NYC's five boroughs.
There's a 2-term term limit & a residency requirement: BPs must live in the borough they represent when elected and also for their entire term in office.
There's a 2-term term limit & a residency requirement: BPs must live in the borough they represent when elected and also for their entire term in office.
Most of the BPs' duties are advisory powers, supervisory/oversight powers, or constituent services. Perhaps the most significant of the constituent service powers is appointing Community Board (CB) members: each CB has 50 members, 25 from the BP and 25 from the local CM(s)
*Technically*, I think the BP "appoints" all the CB members, but at least 25 of the appointees must be nominated by the local City Councilmembers. Since CB lines aren't always the same as Council lines, the 25 appointees are apportioned between local CMs by population
Sidenote: CB districts (officially "Community Districts") are neighborhood groups in each borough that delineate boundaries for CBs. These are mainly about ensuring service delivery and serving the local community, and they are usually not coterminous with political districts
Each CB district also has a similar "District Service Cabinet." These are supposed to essentially evaluate how well NYC's executive agencies are doing at providing services in the community district.
Borough Presidents are now required to release demographic data about who sits on Community Boards and how many CB seats are filled. @GaleBrewerNYC in particular has collected and released extremely comprehensive data, which you can explore here https://www.manhattanbp.nyc.gov/communityboards/boardstat/
Similarly and *not* as well-known as Community Boards, there are also Borough Boards in each borough! They cover borough-wide issues and also mediate conflicts between CBs. In Manhattan, the Borough Board meets monthly (and so do CBs)
Borough Board members are not appointed by the BP. Instead, the members are: the BP (who chairs the Board), every Councilmember in the borough, and all the Community Board Chairs in the borough. However, CB Chairs only get to vote on issues pertaining to their community districts
There is ALSO a "Borough Service Cabinet," chaired by the BP, which is analogous to the District Service Cabinets in each community district.
Not every Community Board meeting is livestreamed, but my BP @GaleBrewerNYC does a great job of streaming all of Manhattan's Borough Board meetings https://www.manhattanbp.nyc.gov/about/borough-board/
I think BPs also get nominations on a number of other commissions/orgs, e.g. the commission on public information and communication (all 5 BPs together get one nominee on that org)
In terms of supervisory powers, the BP oversees contracts / contractor performance in their boroughs. BPs can also hold public hearings (on contracts and on other issues).
BPs must also establish planning offices for their boroughs, which are responsible for a variety of land use / zoning-related issues, including "preparing environmental analyses" (presumably EISs) and "providing technical assistance" to CBs
They also "maintain" "topographical bureaus" that oversee capital projects (construction)
In terms of advisory powers, the BPs can submit recommendations to the Mayor on the executive budget (both the capital and expense budget). In fact, I think the Mayor *must* consult with BPs on the exec budget (§244)
The most significant advisory power of the BPs is likely the BP's role in ULURP, NYC's process for reviewing land use decisions. The City Council ultimately accepts/rejects any zoning/land use plan, but the BP provides *recommendations* (and so do the local CBs)
Want to learn more about ULURP? It's a bit complicated, but @CityLimitsNews has a good breakdown here in English & Español https://citylimits.org/zonein/ulurp-explained/
BPs can also apparently recommend capital projects (think building/purchasing physical assets). I'm not quite clear on *exactly* how this works
Finally, BPs can ~kind of~ introduce legislation. Any legislation they want to introduce must be sponsored by a CM. If the bill is introduced by a CM, it will have a note that it was "introduced at the behest of the borough president" (§82(11))
One note: salary-wise, BPs are paid $179,200/year. For reference, this is less than the Public Advocate but more than the City Council Speaker https://twitter.com/kevinlwei/status/1276442584819404801?s=20
I think that just about sums it up. Suggestions on which section of NYC government / the City Charter to cover next? Drop a reply below :)
Good update from @Louiz! https://twitter.com/lcholdenbrown/status/1277433622102974464?s=19
