Besides providing hyperlocal news and community perspectives, local papers also provide information about events, community services, and local laws, rules and regulations. Further, if you are interested in community organizing or local politics, or wish to engage in a topic you care about, consider writing a letter to the editor for your local paper.
New York City is composed of five boroughs: Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. Each borough elects a borough president and county district attorney. The role of borough president is set out in Chapter 4 of the NYC Charter.
Click on the links below to learn more about events and free services and workshops provided by the borough president, such as tax prep, utilities customer service, land use procedures, application procedures for educational programs such as Summer Rising, and more.
Article 6, §15 of the State Constitution establishes a "single court of city-wide civil jurisdiction and a single court of city-wide criminal jurisdiction for the city of New York." Thus, New York has a Civil Court and Criminal Court. Appeals from the New York City Civil Court and New York City Criminal Court are heard by the Appellate Terms of the Supreme Court. Each county in New York City has a civil and criminal court.
The New York City Civil Court has jurisdiction over civil cases involving amounts up to $50,000. The Civil Court includes a small claims part and a part to adjudicate landlord-tenant matters.
The New York City Criminal Court has jurisdiction over crimes and offenses committed within New York City, including all charges of misdemeanor except charges of libel and all offenses of a grade less than misdemeanor.
New York City also has the following courts:
(1) Appellate Division, First Department (Bronx & New York Counties) and Second Department (Kings (Brooklyn), Queens, and Richmond (Staten Island) Counties)
(2) New York State Supreme Court Civil & Criminal (note that in New York State, the highest court is the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Courts are trial courts). The New York State Supreme Court generally hears cases that are outside the jurisdiction of other trial courts of more limited jurisdiction. In New York City, the Court (which consists of Supreme Courts in each of the 5 boroughs) exercises civil jurisdiction and jurisdiction over felony cases (in which a sentence in excess of one year may be imposed).
(3) United States District Courts for the Southern & Eastern Districts (these are Federal Courts)
(4) New York City Family Court
The NY City Council is NYC's primary legislative body. It adopts the city budget, approves mayoral appointees, oversees the use of municipal properties, levies taxes, and makes and amends city laws, policies, and ordinances. The city council consists of fifty-one members, each of whom are elected in partisan elections by the city's fifty-one districts, and a public advocate. See Chapter 2 of the NYC Charter for more on the City Council.
The Public Advocate is a non-voting member of the New York City Council with the right to introduce and co-sponsor legislation. The Public Advocate also serves as an ombudsman for city government, providing oversight for city agencies, investigating citizens' complaints about city services and making proposals to address perceived shortcomings or failures of those services. These duties are laid out in Section 24 of the City Charter. Along with the Mayor and the Comptroller, the Public Advocate is one of three municipal offices elected by all the city's voters. In the event of a vacancy or incapacity of the mayor, the Public Advocate is first in line to become Mayor.
The Comptroller’s responsibilities include:
See Chapter 5 of the NYC Charter for the full description of the role of Comptroller.
New York City's charter is organized by chapter and section, and each chapter defines the role of an office or officer, including definitions, explanations, job descriptions and procedures.
New York State's Municipal Home Rule Law §§ 36 and 27, which is delineated in the NYC Charter in Chapter 2, §40, "Council", outline a municipality's power to establish charter revisions via commission.
New York City's administrative code (which is much like the U.S. Code, and NY State Code) is divided into titles, chapters, subchapters, sections, and subsections. The administrative code organizes local laws and ordinances (which are passed by the City Council, NYC's legislative body) by topic and can be amended by state or local law.
The Rules of the City of New York. which are much like the Code of Federal Regulations and the New York Codes, Rules & Regulations, are promulgated by agencies of the NYC government and they outline the activities and procedures of agencies. Chapter 45 of the NYC Charter contains the City Administrative Procedure Act.
The Corporation Counsel, who is appointed by the mayor, serves as the head of the NYC Law Department (see Chapter 17 of the NYC Charter) and is the "attorney and counsel for the city and every agency thereof." The Law Department defends agencies when they are sued and provides opinions on legal questions presented by agencies. The Corporation Counsel and NYC Law Department review proposed amendments to an agency's rule and no rule is effective until filed with the Corporation Counsel.
There are nearly 50 city departments whose heads are appointed by the mayor, who also appoints several deputy mayors to oversee entire city agencies and handle specific tasks and projects within their designated portfolios
Like agencies at the federal and state levels, NYC agencies hear and pass rulings on complaints. Agency decisions from a select number of NYC Agencies are freely available at City Admin.
The Municipal Library contains more than 400,000 unique reports, books, periodicals and documents about New York City government. The Library is open to the public and offers Internet access, an online catalog, and reference assistance. The Library also makes available a growing collection of agency reports and other material online via the Government Publications Portal.