New York City's 37th City Council district

New York City's 37th City Council district
Boundaries following the 2020 census
Government
• Councilmember	. Sandy Nurse . D–Cypress Hills
Population  (2010) [1]
• Total	158,438
Demographics
•  Hispanic	56%
•  Black	30%
•  Asian	6%
•  White	4%
• Other	4%
Registration
•  Democratic	75.0%
•  Republican	4.7%
• No party preference	17.7%
Registered voters (2021) 96,282 [2]

New York City's 37th City Council district is one of 51 districts in the New York City Council. It is currently represented by Democrat Sandy Nurse, who took office in 2022. ^[3]

Geography

District 37 covers a series of majority-Hispanic neighborhoods along Brooklyn's northern border, including a large swath of Bushwick as well as Ocean Hill, Cypress Hills, City Line, and small parts of East New York and Brownsville. ^[4]

The district overlaps with Brooklyn Community Boards 4, 5, and 16, and with New York's 7th and 8th congressional districts. It also overlaps with the 18th, 19th, and 25th districts of the New York State Senate, and with the 53rd, 54th, 55th, and 60th districts of the New York State Assembly. ^[5]

Members representing the district

Members	Party	Years served	Electoral history
District established January 1, 1992
Martin M. Dilan (Cypress Hills)	Democratic	January 1, 1992 – December 31, 2001	Elected in 1991. Re-elected in 1993. Re-elected in 1997. Termed out and ran New York State Senate.
Erik M. Dilan (Cypress Hills)	Democratic	January 1, 2002 – December 31, 2013	Elected in 2001. Re-elected in 2003. Re-elected in 2005. Re-elected in 2009. Termed out and ran for U.S. House of Representatives.
Rafael Espinal (Cypress Hills)	Democratic	January 1, 2014 – January 26, 2020	Elected in 2013. Re-elected in 2017. Resigned.
Vacant		January 26, 2020 – November 4, 2020
Darma Diaz (Cypress Hills)	Democratic	November 4, 2020 – December 31, 2021	Elected to finish Espinal's term. Lost renomination.
Sandy Nurse (Cypress Hills)	Democratic	January 1, 2022 – current	Elected in 2021. Re-elected in 2023. Re-elected in 2025.

Recent election results

2025

2025 New York City Council election, District 37 ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Sandy Nurse	21,175
	Working Families	Sandy Nurse	7,068
	Total	Sandy Nurse (incumbent)	28,243	99.5
	Write-in		129	0.5
Total votes			28,372	100.0

2023 (redistricting)

Due to redistricting and the 2020 changes to the New York City Charter, councilmembers elected during the 2021 and 2023 City Council elections will serve two-year terms, with full four-year terms resuming after the 2025 New York City Council elections. ^[7]

2023 New York City Council election, District 37 ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Sandy Nurse	3,765
	Working Families	Sandy Nurse	1,004
	Total	Sandy Nurse (incumbent)	4,769	88.7
	Republican	Isaiah Vega	461
	Conservative	Isaiah Vega [9]	93
	Total	Isaiah Vega	554	10.3
	Write-in		55	1.0
Total votes			5,378	100.0
	Democratic hold

2021

In 2019, voters in New York City approved Ballot Question 1, which implemented ranked-choice voting in all local elections. Under the new system, voters have the option to rank up to five candidates for every local office. Voters whose first-choice candidates fare poorly will have their votes redistributed to other candidates in their ranking until one candidate surpasses the 50 percent threshold. If one candidate surpasses 50 percent in first-choice votes, then ranked-choice tabulations will not occur. ^[10]

2021 New York City Council election, District 37 Democratic primary ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Maximum round	Maximum votes	Share in maximum round	Maximum votes   First round votes  Transfer votes
	Democratic	Sandy Nurse	5	6,124	65.4%	​​
	Democratic	Darma Diaz (incumbent)	5	3,247	34.6%	​​
	Democratic	Misba Abdin	4	1,154	11.0%	​​
	Democratic	Heriberto Mateo	4	1,071	10.2%	​​
	Democratic	Rick Echevarria	2	558	5.1%	​​
	Democratic	Chris Durosinmi	2	340	3.1%	​​
	Write-in		1	25	0.2%	​​

An interactive map of District 37

2021 New York City Council election, District 37 general election ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Sandy Nurse	8,884	86.4
	Republican	Franklin Gonzalez	1,369	13.3
	Write-in		20	0.2
Total votes			10,273	100
	Democratic hold

2020 special

In January 2020, Councilman Rafael Espinal resigned in order to take a job with the Freelancers Union, leaving his seat vacant. An April special election was called, but due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was moved to align with the concurrent 2020 elections. While the election initially appeared to be a competitive contest between Darma Diaz, Sandy Nurse, and several other candidates, a complex series of judicial rulings and political maneuvers meant that all candidates but Diaz were removed from the ballot, and Diaz won both the primary and general elections uncontested. ^[13]

2020 New York City Council special election, District 37 ^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Darma Diaz	37,228	99.4
	Write-in		235	0.6
Total votes			37,463	100
	Democratic hold

2017

2017 New York City Council election, District 37 ^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Rafael Espinal (incumbent)	10,369	89.8
	Green	Persephone Sarah Jane Smith	1,152	10.0
	Write-in		20	0.2
Total votes			11,541	100
	Democratic hold

2013

2013 New York City Council election, District 37 ^{[16] [17]}

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Rafael Espinal	3,538	45.9
	Democratic	Kimberly Council	2,459	31.9
	Democratic	Heriberto Mateo	927	12.0
	Democratic	Helal Sheikh	792	10.3
	Write-in		0	0.0
Total votes			7,716	100
General election
	Democratic	Rafael Espinal	9,058	86.1
	Working Families	Kimberly Council	1,235	11.7
	Conservative	Michael Freeman-Saulsberre	230	2.2
	Write-in		4	0.0
Total votes			10,527	100
	Democratic hold

References

1. "Census Demographics at the NYC City Council district (CNCLD) level". NYC Open Data. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
2. "Council District Summary Report" (PDF). New York City Board of Elections. February 21, 2021. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
3. "District 37 - Sandy Nurse". New York City Council. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
4. "Council Members & Districts". New York City Council. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
5. "NYC Boundaries Map". BetaNYC. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
6. "General Election 2025 - Member of the City Council, 37th Council District" (PDF). New York City Board of Elections. Retrieved December 5, 2025.
7. Pazmino, Gloria (January 15, 2020). "Why the Census Means NYC Lawmakers Will Serve 2-Year Terms Instead of 4". www.ny1.com. New York 1. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
8. "General Election 2023 - Member of the City Council, 37th Council District" (PDF). New York City Board of Elections. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
9. Marked as "Conservative/Medical Freedom".
10. Rachel Holliday Smith (January 18, 2021). "How Does Ranked Choice Voting Work in New York City?". The City. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
11. "2021 Primary Official Ranked Choice Rounds, DEM Council Member 37th Council District" (PDF). New York City Board of Elections. July 20, 2021. Retrieved July 22, 2021.
12. "General Election 2021 - Member of the City Council, 37th Council District" (PDF). New York City Board of Elections. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
13. Samar Khurshid (December 28, 2020). "Newly-Seated Brooklyn City Council Member Quickly Faces Tough 2021 Primary". Gotham Gazette. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
14. "General Election 2020 - Member of the City Council, 37th Council District" (PDF). New York City Board of Elections. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
15. "General Election 2017 - Member of the City Council, 37th Council District" (PDF). New York City Board of Elections. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
16. "Primary Election 2013 - Democratic Member of the City Council, 37th Council District" (PDF). New York City Board of Elections. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
17. "General Election 2013 - Member of the City Council, 37th Council District" (PDF). New York City Board of Elections. Retrieved July 1, 2021.