The Back Story

In 1963, Mayor Bob Wagner established Community Planning Boards (eventually shortened to Community Boards) throughout the five boroughs. Community boards were intended play an advisory role in neighborhood planning and serve as the original 311. Back in the day, if you needed help navigating City bureaucracy, your CB was the first step.

Today, each board is charged with making recommendations on long-term community planning, land use, business permits, street closings and district financial needs. The presiding Borough President and the City Council Member each appoint half of each district’s Community Board members, respectively.

The Basics

• New York City has 59 Community Board Districts, each of which includes several neighborhoods.
• Community boards have 50 members who live, work or have other significant interests in the community.
• Members serve staggered, two-year terms.
• Full Board meetings are held once a month, with committee meetings throughout the month.

The Power

While City agencies (like the DOT) can implement projects without Community Board approval, it often seeks board support and input. Community boards make advisory decisions about important street reforms such as:

• Bike lanes and on-street bike parking
• Parking regulations
• Pedestrian plazas
• Street closures
• Traffic Calming

The People

• District Manager
  Each board has a paid staff member that is approved by the board and is responsible for providing information to community members, procedural matters, resolving neighborhood complaints and acting as a liaison with the board. Some District Managers also organize events to benefit the neighborhood. The District Manager is a good person to call to learn about when the next meeting will be held, how you can get involved or how you could bring your issue to the board.
  
  
• Committees
  The transportation and land use committees are the typical bodies that review issues that affect the streetscape like bike lanes (although it’s important to have a transportation perspective at other committees as well). If you are trying to pass a resolution in favor of a project, it will go through a committee first, and following approval can move to the full board. Because these meetings are smaller, a proportionately small number of speakers can often have a big impact.
• Full Board
  Every board holds a once-monthly meeting where motions approved by committee come for a full vote. Each meeting has a public comment portion where you can comment on an issue the board has already raised, or speak freely on any topic for two or three minutes. When a good resolution is up for a vote, this is the critical stage to show public support.