Make a difference for your neighborhood by serving on a community board, the voice of the people who live or work in the neighborhoods that the board represents.
To qualify, you have to live in New York City, be age sixteen or over, and live, work, or have a "professional or other significant interest" in the district that you want to serve in.
Community boards are the link between the neighborhood and city
agencies and elected officials. An all-volunteer
board with a maximum of fifty members represents each neighborhood in New York City, with each board representing a maximum of 250,000 people. Twenty-five members get appointed or reappointed each year.
Meetings are open to the public. They're held once a month from September through June. During the pandemic, they've been held online.
The Borough President appoints members to the board. City Council members for the district nominate half of the people who get appointed. The number that each City Council member can nominate is based on how much of the district's population that member represents. Terms are for either one year or staggered two-year terms. They start on April 1st.
Some of the committees that board members can join are Economic Development, Education, Health and Mental Health, Housing, Immigration, Land Use/Landmarks, Libraries and Cultural Affairs, Parks, Public Safety, Sanitation, Transportation, and Youth Services.
You can apply for membership on a community board by Friday, February 12th, on the Borough President's website here. But first, contact your City Council member to see if they'll nominate you. Their names, the neighborhoods they represent, and their e-mail addresses are posted on the City Council website here.
