New York City CouncilLocal authority

The New York City Council is the legislative body of the City of New York, consisting of 51 council members elected from districts across the five boroughs. Its mandate is to enact local laws, approve the city's massive annual operating and capital budgets, oversee mayoral agencies, and exercise final determination over zoning and land-use decisions. Established in its modern unicameral form on January 1, 1938, through a voter-approved city charter that abolished the corrupt and unwieldy Board of Aldermen, the Council's legislative powers were dramatically expanded in 1989 after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the rival Board of Estimate in Board of Estimate of City of New York v. Morris.