COMMUNITY BOARDS: WHAT THEY ARE, FIND YOURS
Community boards are volunteer-run neighborhood organizations that work on all kinds of issues pertinent to their communities, often working with elected city government in doing so. There are 59 community boards in New York City, each with up to 50 members. Members, who can be as young as 16, are appointed by borough presidents and City Council representatives. They serve two-year terms.
Find, learn about & get involved with your community board:
1. Go here, scroll down until you see a map & click your neighborhood to see a demographic snapshot of your community district. Click the "contact your community board" link you'll find at the bottom of the page. (Alternatively, find your community district # in "Find Your Districts." & Go here to find your board's listing.
2. Once you find your board's listing, you'll see contact addresses and a link to your board's website: each board is unique, with its own individual site. Go to the site for detailed information: issues up for vote & discussion, a calendar of meetings, perhaps a "statement of needs" section, an FAQ section, and other pages, depending on your board.
3. Getting involved with your community board: read about how to get involved at this excellent community board primer (from Curbed NY). You don't need to be appointed an official member to get involved -- you just need to start going to meetings. Your own board's website will also likely have information about how to participate & join.
What community boards do:
First and foremost, community boards review and advise about land use issues (like proposed real estate developments, city construction, and zoning). For example: Queens Community Board 12, representing Jamaica & St. Albans, passed a resolution in 2014 requesting a moratorium from the city on building homeless shelters in the area, arguing that more shelters would increase an already "excessive" homeless population. Queens Community Board 5, representing Ridgewood, Glendale, Middle Village and Maspeth, voted against rezoning a vacant lot from manufacturing to residential, "citing worries over gentrification and the loss of manufacturing space." Manhattan Community Board 3, on the Lower East Side, voted to preserve a community garden (and in doing so, rejected a new housing development). Bronx Community Board 7, representing Bedford Park, Fordham and a few other neighborhoods, voted to approve the construction of a massive, nine-rink "National Ice Center," noting that such a development could generate millions for the local economy. And while community board votes are advisory -- officially, a board can't force anyone to do anything -- government bodies that oversee land use (i.e. City Council) very often heed board recommendations, so boards in fact have considerable sway in determining how their neighborhoods develop. Aside from advising about land use, boards serve their districts in a variety of other ways as well. They address community complaints -- for example, traffic complaints (like these regarding traffic safety along the hell that is Northern Boulevard, among other thoroughfares), often working hand-in-hand with city agencies, like the DOT, in resolving such complaints; they vote for and against liquor licenses; they vote about renaming streets (for example, about renaming a street corner after the Beastie Boys); they coordinate park cleanup programs; they approve/reject proposed landmarks; they vote about library revitalization plans; they do all kinds of things involving the overall social welfare of their districts.
Find, learn about & get involved with your community board:
1. Go here, scroll down until you see a map & click your neighborhood to see a demographic snapshot of your community district. Click the "contact your community board" link you'll find at the bottom of the page. (Alternatively, find your community district # in "Find Your Districts." & Go here to find your board's listing.
2. Once you find your board's listing, you'll see contact addresses and a link to your board's website: each board is unique, with its own individual site. Go to the site for detailed information: issues up for vote & discussion, a calendar of meetings, perhaps a "statement of needs" section, an FAQ section, and other pages, depending on your board.
3. Getting involved with your community board: read about how to get involved at this excellent community board primer (from Curbed NY). You don't need to be appointed an official member to get involved -- you just need to start going to meetings. Your own board's website will also likely have information about how to participate & join.
What community boards do:
First and foremost, community boards review and advise about land use issues (like proposed real estate developments, city construction, and zoning). For example: Queens Community Board 12, representing Jamaica & St. Albans, passed a resolution in 2014 requesting a moratorium from the city on building homeless shelters in the area, arguing that more shelters would increase an already "excessive" homeless population. Queens Community Board 5, representing Ridgewood, Glendale, Middle Village and Maspeth, voted against rezoning a vacant lot from manufacturing to residential, "citing worries over gentrification and the loss of manufacturing space." Manhattan Community Board 3, on the Lower East Side, voted to preserve a community garden (and in doing so, rejected a new housing development). Bronx Community Board 7, representing Bedford Park, Fordham and a few other neighborhoods, voted to approve the construction of a massive, nine-rink "National Ice Center," noting that such a development could generate millions for the local economy. And while community board votes are advisory -- officially, a board can't force anyone to do anything -- government bodies that oversee land use (i.e. City Council) very often heed board recommendations, so boards in fact have considerable sway in determining how their neighborhoods develop. Aside from advising about land use, boards serve their districts in a variety of other ways as well. They address community complaints -- for example, traffic complaints (like these regarding traffic safety along the hell that is Northern Boulevard, among other thoroughfares), often working hand-in-hand with city agencies, like the DOT, in resolving such complaints; they vote for and against liquor licenses; they vote about renaming streets (for example, about renaming a street corner after the Beastie Boys); they coordinate park cleanup programs; they approve/reject proposed landmarks; they vote about library revitalization plans; they do all kinds of things involving the overall social welfare of their districts.
