The New York City Charter is the
municipal charter
A city charter or town charter (generically, municipal charter) is a legal document ('' charter'') establishing a municipality such as a city or town. The concept developed in Europe during the Middle Ages.
Traditionally the granting of a charte ...
of
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. As of January 2018, it includes a non-numbered introductory chapter, plus chapters identified by a number (1 through 75) or a number plus a letter suffix.
[New York City Charter](_blank)
from American Legal Publishing Corporation
As part of the
1898 consolidation of New York City, the
New York State Legislature
The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an officia ...
enacted a charter for the consolidated city (Laws of 1897, chapter 378, effective January 1, 1898). The Charter was overhauled in 1989, after the
New York City Board of Estimate had been declared unconstitutional, to redistribute power from the Board of Estimate to the
Mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...
and
City Council
A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural coun ...
.
Charter revisions
The charter is periodically revised, generally via a charter commission
including revisions that took place in 1898, 1901, 1938, 1963, 1975, and 2020.
The 1938 revision replaced the
New York City Board of Aldermen
The New York City Board of Aldermen was a body that was the upper house of New York City's Common Council from 1824 to 1875, the lower house of its Municipal Assembly upon consolidation in 1898 until the charter was amended in 1901 to abolish ...
with the New York City Council, and it also created the
New York City Planning Commission.
The 1963 revision of the New York City Charter extended the
Borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle Ag ...
of
Manhattan's "Community Planning Councils" (est. 1951) to the outer boroughs as "Community Planning Boards", which are now known as "
Community Boards".
This revision also increased the size of the New York City Council from 25 members to 35.
The 1975 revision of the New York City 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) which gave the community boards the authority to review land use proposals such as zoning actions, and special permits.
The 2020 revision included 19 ballot proposals, combined into 5 questions, all of which were approved in the general election on November 5, 2019.
These revisions included the implementation of
ranked choice voting beginning in 2021 for New York City municipal elections, the expansion of the powers and size of the
New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board, an update to ethics rules for former city officials and members of the
New York City Conflicts of Interest Board, changes to the city's annual budget process, and an extension in the time allocated to
Community Boards and
Borough Presidents to review proposed land use changes as part of the
Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP).
See also
*
New York City Administrative Code
The ''Administrative Code of the City of New York'' contains the codified local laws of New York City as enacted by the New York City Council and Mayor. As of January 2018, it contains 35 titles, numbered 1 through 16, 16-A, 17 through 20, 20-A, 2 ...
*
New York City Rules
* ''
Board of Estimate of City of New York v. Morris''
References
External links
The current 2006 revised New York City Charter1963 revised New York City CharterFull text of the 1963 revised New York City Charter
New York (state) law
Charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the re ...
1898 in New York City
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