Int. No. 1250

By Council Members Carr, Restler, Louis and Hanks

A Local Law to amend the New York city charter, in relation to publication of bylaws by borough boards, community boards, and advisory bodies

Be it enacted by the Council as follows:

                     Section 1. Subdivision b of section 85 of chapter 4 of the New York city charter, is amended to read as follows:

b. Each borough board shall:

                           (1) Cooperate with community boards and city agencies with respect to matters relating to the welfare of the borough and its residents;

                           (2) In its discretion hold or conduct public or private hearings;

                           (3) Adopt by-laws and meet at least once a month but no formal action of the board shall be taken except at a meeting open to the public;

                           (4) Assist agencies that deliver services within the borough in the preparation of service statements for the borough and review such statements;

                           (5) Prepare comprehensive and special purpose plans for the physical growth, improvement and development of the borough;

                           (6) Review and make recommendations with respect to applications and proposals of public agencies and private entities for the use, development, or improvement of land located in more than one district;

                           (7) Mediate disputes and conflicts among two or more community districts in the borough;

                           (8) Submit a comprehensive statement of the expense and capital budget priorities and needs of the borough;

                           (9) Evaluate the progress of capital developments within the borough and the quality and quantity of services provided by agencies within the borough;

                           (10) Give notice of all its public meetings and hearings, and make such meetings and hearings available for broadcasting and cablecasting;

                           (11) Keep a public record of its activities and transactions, including minutes of meetings, majority and minority reports, by-laws, and all documents which the board is required by law to review; such documents shall, in accordance with law, be made available to elected officials upon request and for reasonable public inspection;

(12) Publish to its own website, or to the website of the borough president, in a searchable, non-proprietary and machine-readable format, the by-laws of such borough board, and update such published by-laws no later than two weeks after any changes are made; and

                           [(12)] (13) Otherwise consider the needs of the borough.

§ 2. Chapter 47 of the New York city charter is amended to add a new section 1069.2, to read as follows:

§ 1069.2. By-laws of advisory bodies. a. Definitions. As used in this section the following terms have the following meanings:

By-law. The term “by-law” means an internal code of procedures or rules adopted by an advisory body for the operation, regulation or management of the affairs of such advisory body, irrespective of the name by which such code is designated.

Advisory body. The term “advisory body” means an entity: (i) established by local law or executive order to advise, study, or report on a subject; (ii) the body of which includes at least one member of the public; (iii) which holds one or more public meetings; and (iv) that is neither a community board nor a borough board. This term shall include, but not be limited to, task forces and commissions.

b. Any by-laws adopted by an advisory body shall be posted to such advisory body’s website, or to the city website, in a searchable, non-proprietary and machine readable format, and updated no later than two weeks after any changes to such by-laws are made. At such time as an advisory body has no remaining required functions pursuant to local law or executive order, its associated by-laws shall not be required to be maintained. 

                     § 3. Subdivision d of section 2800 of chapter 70 of the New York city charter, as amended by local law number 11 for the year 2018, is amended to read as follows:

                     d. Each community board shall:

                          (1)  Consider the needs of the district which it serves;

                           (2) Cooperate with, consult, assist and advise any public officer, agency, local administrators of agencies, legislative body, or the borough president with respect to any matter relating to the welfare of the district and its residents;

                           (3) At its discretion hold public or private hearings or investigations with respect to any matter relating to the welfare of the district and its residents, but the board shall take action only at a meeting open to the public;

                           (4) Assist city departments and agencies in communicating with and transmitting information to the people of the district;

                           (5) Cooperate with the boards of other districts with respect to matters of common concern;

                           (6) Render an annual report to the mayor, the council and the borough board within three months of the end of each year and such other reports to the mayor or the borough board as they shall require (such reports or summaries thereof to be published in the City Record);

                           (7) Elect its own officers; adopt, and make available for reasonable public inspection, by-laws and statements of the duties assigned by the board to its district manager and other professional staff appointed pursuant to subdivision f of this section; and keep a public record of its activities and transactions, including minutes of its meetings, majority and minority reports, and all documents the board is required by law to review, which shall be made available, in accordance with law, to elected officials upon request and for reasonable public inspection;

                           (8) Request the attendance of agency representatives at meetings of the community board;

                           (9) Prepare comprehensive and special purpose plans for the growth, improvement and development of the community district;

                           (10) Prepare and submit to the mayor, on or before a date established by the mayor, an annual statement of community district needs, including a brief description of the district, the board's assessment of its current and probable future needs, and its recommendations for programs, projects, or activities to meet those needs;

                           (11) Consult with agencies on the capital needs of the district, review departmental estimates, hold public hearings on such needs and estimates and prepare and submit to the mayor capital budget priorities for the next fiscal year and the three succeeding fiscal years;

                           (12) Conduct public hearings and submit recommendations and priorities to the mayor, the council and the city planning commission on the allocation and use within the district of funds earmarked for community development activities under city, state or federal programs;

                           (13) Consult with agencies on the program needs of the community district to be funded from the expense budget, review departmental estimates, hold public hearings on such needs and estimates, and prepare and submit to the mayor expense budget priorities for the next fiscal year;

                           (14) Assist in the planning of individual capital projects funded in the capital budget to be located in the community district and review scopes of projects and designs for each capital project provided, however, that such review shall be completed within thirty days after receipt of such scopes or designs;

                           (15) Evaluate the progress of capital projects within the community district based on status reports to be furnished to the board;

                           (16) Be authorized to assign a representative to attend any meeting held by a city agency to determine, in advance of drafting, the form and content of any environmental impact statement required by law for a proposal or application for a project in such board's district;

                           (17) Exercise the initial review of applications and proposals of public agencies and private entities for the use, development or improvement of land located in the community district, including the conduct of a public hearing and the preparation and submission to the city planning commission of a written recommendation;

                           (18) Assist agencies in the preparation of service statements of agency objectives, priorities, programs and projected activities within the community district and review such statements;

                           (19) Evaluate the quality and quantity of services provided by agencies within the community district;

                           (20) Within budgetary appropriations for such purposes, disseminate information about city services and programs, process complaints, requests, and inquiries of residents of the community district; and

                           (21) Conduct substantial public outreach, including identifying the organizations active in the community district, maintaining a list of the names and mailing addresses of such community organizations, and making such names and, with the consent of the organization, mailing addresses available to the public upon request; [and]

                           (22) With assistance and support from the department of information technology and telecommunications, maintain a website that provides adequate public notice of upcoming meetings, minutes from past meetings for the past twelve months, and contact information for the board; and

(23) Publish to its website, in a searchable, non-proprietary and machine-readable format, the by-laws of such community board, and update such published by-laws no later than two weeks after any changes are made.

§ 4. This local law takes effect immediately.

IB

LS 18230

3/11/2025