The city council — sometimes called the City Board or City Assembly — makes decisions for your neighborhood. It is the legislative branch of the municipal government, and like most local legislatures, passes laws and ordinances that can be passed or vetoed by the mayor. It also exercises oversight of city agencies through its many committees, which conduct deep dives into a variety of topics on the ground.
Council members are elected to represent their districts, with a total of 51 seats across the five boroughs in a mayor-council government. They can run as members of a political party, but their positions do not have to align with any particular one. They are limited to two consecutive four-year terms in office.
As this session comes to a close, the council has been working on some big-ticket items. This year, it issued a mental health roadmap and passed legislation to make information about available services easier to find. It also took aim at the city’s health crises, passing a package of bills to help people access free doula services and to expand reporting on maternal health disparities. And it held dozens of oversight hearings on the mayor’s administration and tried, with some success, to claw back cuts in budget negotiations.
The City Council is not a political party. But individual members — and the speakers, minority leader, and majority leader — are assigned to different standing and select committees, where they discuss proposals for law and meet with representatives from city agencies.
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