Staten Island is the southernmost borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York. The borough is separated from the adjacent state of New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull and from the rest of New York by New York Bay. With a population of 495,747 in the 2020 Census, Staten Island is the least populated New York City borough but the third largest in land area at 58.5 sq mi (152 km2); it is also the least densely populated and most suburban borough in the city.
The administrative divisions of New York are the various units of government that provide local services in the American state of New York. The state is divided into boroughs, counties, cities, towns, and villages. They are municipal corporations, chartered (created) by the New York State Legislature, as under the New York State Constitution the only body that can create governmental units is the state. All of them have their own governments, sometimes with no paid employees, that provide local services. Centers of population that are not incorporated and have no government or local services are designated hamlets. Whether a municipality is defined as a borough, city, town, or village is determined not by population or land area, but rather on the form of government selected by the residents and approved by the New York State Legislature. Each type of local government is granted specific home rule powers by the New York State Constitution. There are still occasional changes as a village becomes a city, or a village dissolves, each of which requires legislative action. New York also has various corporate entities that provide local services and have their own administrative structures (governments), such as school and fire districts. These are not found in all counties.
The government of New York City, headquartered at New York City Hall in Lower Manhattan, is organized under the New York City Charter and provides for a mayor-council system. The mayor is elected to a four-year term and is responsible for the administration of city government. The New York City Council is a unicameral body consisting of 51 members, each elected from a geographic district, normally for four-year terms. Primary elections for local offices use ranked choice voting, while general elections use plurality voting. All elected officials are subject to a two consecutive-term limit. The court system consists of two citywide courts and three statewide courts.
The City of Greater New York was the consolidation of the City of New York with Brooklyn, western Queens County, and Staten Island, which took effect on January 1, 1898. New York had already annexed the Bronx, so the consolidated city sprawled across five counties, which became the five Boroughs of modern New York. Eastern Queens County was excluded and later became Nassau County.
The mayor of New York City is elected in early November every four years, in the year immediately following a United States presidential election year, and takes office at the beginning of the following year. The city, which elects the mayor as its chief executive, consists of the five boroughs, which consolidated to form "Greater" New York on January 1, 1898.
The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City in the United States. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs.
Ralph J. Lamberti is an American politician who is a member of the Democratic Party, and held the office of borough president of Staten Island, New York from 1984 to 1989.
The borough presidents are the chief executives of the five boroughs of New York City. For most of the city's history, the office exercised significant executive powers within each borough, and the five borough presidents also sat on the New York City Board of Estimate, which was abolished in 1990. After the Board of Estimate was disbanded, the borough presidents were stripped of a majority of their powers in the government of New York City.
The Office of Comptroller of New York City, a position established in 1801, is the chief financial officer and chief auditor of the city agencies and their performance and spending. The comptroller also reviews all city contracts, handles the settlement of litigation claims, issues municipal bonds, and manages the city's very large pension funds.
Andrew Stein is an American Democratic politician who served on the New York City Council and was its last president, and as Manhattan Borough President.
The boroughs of New York City are the five major governmental districts that compose New York City. They are the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. Each borough is coextensive with a respective county of the State of New York: The Bronx is Bronx County, Brooklyn is Kings County, Manhattan is New York County, Queens is Queens County, and Staten Island is Richmond County.
Board of Estimate of City of New York v. Morris, 489 U.S. 688 (1989), was a case argued before the United States Supreme Court regarding the structure of the New York City Board of Estimate.
Community boards of Staten Island are New York City community boards in the borough of Staten Island, which are the appointed advisory groups of the community districts that advise on land use and zoning, participate in the city budget process, and address service delivery in their district.
The community boards of the New York City government are the appointed advisory groups of the community districts of the five boroughs. There are currently 59 community districts: twelve in the Bronx, eighteen in Brooklyn, twelve in Manhattan, fourteen in Queens, and three in Staten Island.
The New York CityCampaign Finance Board (CFB) is an independent New York City agency that serves to provide campaign finance information to the public, enable more citizens to run for office by granting public matching funds, increase voter participation and awareness, strengthen the role of small contributors, and reduce the potential for actual or perceived corruption.
The New York City Charter is the municipal charter of New York City. As part of the 1898 consolidation of New York City, the New York State Legislature enacted a charter for the consolidated city. The Charter was overhauled in 1989, after the New York City Board of Estimate had been declared unconstitutional, to redistribute power from the Board of Estimate to the Mayor and City Council.
The city government of New York City controls a budget of $112.4 billion, as of 2024. Officials receive municipal funding for their campaigns, and are elected for a maximum of two terms. City government is dominated by the Democratic Party, which also normally attracts majority support within the city in State, Congressional, and Presidential elections. The suffrage has been extended in stages since the founding of the state: African-Americans received the vote in 1870 and women in 1920. Since 1968, electoral district boundaries at all levels have been drawn so as to ensure minority representation.
