Get on board

 

THE CITY 

Community boards in New York City weigh in on liquor licenses, budget items and local development rules. Chances are, they’ve hosted a heated debate in your neighborhood over future housing, or roadway changes.

But what is a community board, really? And how do its members get a say in all those hyperlocal issues, from street cleaning to rezonings?

Now’s the time to learn — because boards across the boroughs are choosing new members very soon.

For those curious about what boards do and how to get involved, listen up: Most of the five borough presidents are taking applications between January and March.

Here’s what to know about the process, and what to expect if you’re chosen to join:

How do you join a community board?

First step is: apply!

Applications have opened already for some of the boroughs, and we’ll update this list as more applications are published. Here are the links and deadlines:

• Brooklyn — Deadline is Feb. 18.
• Queens — Deadline is Feb. 16.
• Manhattan — Deadline is March 1.
• Staten Island — Applications are accepted year-round.
• The Bronx — No applications are available yet.

There are 59 boards total, each corresponding with a community district, groupings of neighborhoods that can include up to 250,000 people.

Each board has up to 50 members, all volunteers, and have no minimum number of members. Board members serve via staggered two-year terms, which means half must be reappointed or replaced every year.

All of those people are appointed by their own borough president. City Council members can recommend new applicants, but the final call rests with the BP.

Community service enters the digital age

 

Patch 

 The Queens Borough President's Office is now accepting applications to serve on one of the borough's 14 community boards, and, for the first time, the application process is completely digitized.

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards is looking for "qualified and civic-minded individuals" to represent the neighborhoods where they live or work as a member of their local community board, according to a news release.

Prospective members and current members whose term has expired have until Feb. 19 to apply.

This year's community board application marks the first time the application process is completely online. In the past, applications had to be signed and notarized, then submitted in-person at Queens Borough Hall.

 "Government is more effective and accountable not only when it works hand-in-hand with the communities it is sworn to serve, but when the full tapestry of each and every neighborhood is justly represented within that government," Richards said in a statement. "This common-sense overhaul of the outdated community board application process represents a significant step toward ensuring that our 14 Queens Community Boards truly look, sound and feel like the diverse neighborhoods of each district."