Borough president

A borough president (informally BP, or beep in slang) is an elective office in each of the five boroughs of New York City. Borough Presidents currently have little real power within the New York City government. Instead they generally serve as ceremonial leaders who advocate for their boroughs on key issues.

Borough Presidents advise the Mayor, comment on all land-use items in their borough, advocate borough needs in the annual municipal budget process, appoint Community Boards, chair the Borough Boards, and serve as ex officio members of various boards and committees. They generally act as advocates of their boroughs at the mayoral agencies, the city council, the New York State government, public corporations and private businesses. Their regulations are compiled in title 45 of the New York City Rules.

Reasons for establishment

Prior to January 1, 1898, the city was coterminous with New York County, which at that time comprised Manhattan and the Bronx. On that date, Boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx and Richmond (Staten Island) were created. Brooklyn was coterminous with Kings County, the Boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx with New York County, and the Borough of Richmond with Richmond County. Queens County included the borough of Queens together with all of what today is known as Nassau County. The boroughs assumed most county functions, but did not replace them.

The offices of borough president were created by charter in 1898 with the formation of the City of Greater New York, to preserve (in a later writer's words) “local pride and affection for the old municipalities” after consolidation.

Memorial to Joseph Guider, Borough President of Brooklyn

On January 1, 1899, Queens County was partitioned. The easternmost three towns, with an area of 280 square miles (730 km²), were transferred to form Nassau County.

On April 19, 1912, the New York State Legislature separated the County of Bronx (which began separate activity in January 1914) from the County of New York, which now became coextensive with the Borough of Manhattan.

Role

To balance local authority along with the centralization of government, the Office of Borough President was established with a functional administrative role derived by having a vote on the New York City Board of Estimate, which was responsible for assisting in the formulation of the city's budget and controlling land use, contract, and franchise powers. The Board of Estimate consisted of the Mayor, the Comptroller and the President of the New York City Council, each of whom were elected citywide and had two votes, and the five Borough presidents, each having one vote.

In 1989, the Supreme Court of the United States, in Board of Estimate of City of New York v. Morris (489 U.S. 688) declared the New York City Board of Estimate unconstitutional on the grounds that the city's most populous borough (Brooklyn) had no greater effective representation on the board than the city's least populous borough (Staten Island), this arrangement being an unconstitutional violation of the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause pursuant to the high court's 1964 "one man, one vote" decision.

The city charter was revised in 1990 and the Board of Estimate was abolished. The Office of Borough President was retained but with greatly reduced power. The borough budget reverted to the mayor or the New York City Council. A Borough President has a small discretionary budget to spend on projects within the borough. The last significant power of the borough presidents—to appoint a member of the New York City Board of Education —was abolished, with the board, on June 30, 2002.

The two major remaining appointments of a Borough President are one member of the city Planning Commission and one member of the Panel for Educational Policy. Borough Presidents generally adopt specific projects to promote while in office; but, since 1990, Borough Presidents have been seen mainly as the ceremonial leaders of their boroughs. Officially, they advise the Mayor on issues relating to each borough, comment on all land-use items in their borough, advocate borough needs in the annual municipal budget process, appoint Community Boards, chair the Borough Boards, and serve as ex officio members of various boards and committees. They generally act as advocates of their boroughs at the mayoral agencies, the City Council, the New York State government, public corporations and private businesses.

Borough presidents are elected to four-year terms; and can serve three consecutive terms (12 years) before term limits.

As of 2014, the borough presidents are:

Borough	President	Party
The Bronx	Ruben Diaz Jr.	Democratic
Brooklyn	Eric Adams	Democratic
Manhattan	Gale Brewer	Democratic
Queens	Melinda Katz	Democratic
Staten Island	James Oddo	Republican

Borough Boards

Each Borough has a Borough Board consisting of the Borough President, the City Council members from the borough, and the chair of each of the borough's Community Boards. The Borough Boards meet monthly to serve the needs of the local communities. They may hold public hearings, make inquiries into the performance of public services, and make recommendations about city owned land use and sales within the borough.

Community Boards

See also: Community Boards of New York City, Community Boards of the Bronx, Community Boards of Brooklyn, Community Boards of Manhattan, Community Boards of Queens, and Community Boards of Staten Island

New York City is divided into 59 administrative districts, each served by a Community Board. Community Boards are local representative bodies that serve as advocates for New York City residents and communities. Each board has up to 50 voting members, with one half of the membership appointed each year for two-year terms; there are no term limits. Additionally, all City Council members whose council districts cover part of a community district are ex-officio board members and may participate in all board activities. However, council members may not vote on board issues. Borough presidents appoint the voting Community Board members, with half of the appointees nominated by council members representing the district in proportion to the percentage of the community board's population they represent. Broadly assigned by the city charter to "Consider the needs of the district which it serves," the boards have been limited in their ability by ineffective local communication channels, minuscule budgets and archaic technology. As a result, many residents have concluded that they have little impact on the operation of their communities or their lives.

Office holders

Bronx Borough Presidents

#	Borough President	Party	Term
1	Louis M. Haffen (1854–1935)	Democratic	1898–1909
2	John F. Murray (1862–1928)	Democratic	1909–1910
3	Cyrus C. Miller (1866–1956)	Democratic	1910–1914
4	Douglas Mathewson (?1870–1948)	Republican/Fusion	1914–1918
5	Henry Bruckner (1871–1942)	Democratic	1918–1934
6	James J. Lyons (1890–1966)	Democratic	1934–1962
7	Joseph F. Periconi (1910–1994)	Republican/Liberal	1962–1966
8	Herman Badillo (1929-2014)	Democratic	1966–1970
9	Robert Abrams1 (born 1938)	Democratic	1970–1978
10	Stanley Simon2	Democratic	1979–1987
11	Fernando Ferrer3 (born 1950)	Democratic	1987–2002
12	Adolfo Carrión, Jr. (born 1961)	Democratic	2002–2009
13	Ruben Diaz, Jr. (born 1973)	Democratic	2009-

Notes: 1. In November 1978 elected as New York Attorney General 2. On January 5, 1979, elected to fill vacancy; resigned on March 11, 1987 3. On April 15, 1987, elected to fill vacancy

Brooklyn Borough Presidents

See also: History of Brooklyn § Mayors of the City of Brooklyn

#	Borough President	Party	Term
1	Edward M. Grout (1861–1931)	Democratic	1898–1901
2	J. Edward Swanstrom (1853–1911)	Fusion	1902–1903
3	Martin W. Littleton (1872–1934)	Democratic-Independent	1904–1905
4	Bird S. Coler (1867–1941)	Municipal Ownership League	1906–1909
5	Alfred E. Steers (c. 1861–1948)	Democratic-Independent	1910–1913
6	Lewis H. Pounds (1861–1947)	Republican/Fusion	1913–1917
7	Edward J. Riegelmann (1870–1941)	Democratic	1918–1924
8	Joseph A. Guider (1870–1926)	Democratic	1925–1926
9	James J. Byrne (1863–1930)	Democratic	1926–1930
10	Henry Hesterberg (c. 1882–1950)	Democratic	1930–1933
11	Raymond V. Ingersoll (1875–1940)	Democratic/Fusion	1934–1940
12	John Cashmore (1895–1961)	Democratic	1940–1961
13	John F. Hayes (1915–2001)	Democratic	1961
14	Abe Stark (1894–1972)	Democratic	1962–1970
15	Sebastian Leone (born	Democratic	1970–1976
16	Howard Golden (born 1925)	Democratic	1977–2001
17	Marty Markowitz (born 1945)	Democratic	2002–2013
18	Eric Adams	Democratic	2014–

Manhattan Borough Presidents

• Before 1874, when it annexed part of the Bronx, New York City was no greater in extent than the present Borough of Manhattan. For New York's mayors before 1898, see List of mayors of New York City.

#	Borough President	Party	Term †
1	Augustus W. Peters (1844–1898)	Democratic	1898–1899
2	James J. Coogan (1845–1915)	Democratic	1899–1901
3	Jacob A. Cantor (1854–1921)	Democratic	1902–1903
4	John F. Ahearn (1853–1920)	Democratic	1904–1909
-	John Cloughen (acting) (died 1911)	Democratic	Dec. 1909 (4 days)
5	George McAneny1 (1869–1953)	Fusion/Democratic	1910–1913
6	Marcus M. Marks (1858–1934)	Republican	1914–1917
7	Frank Dowling2 (c. 1865–1919)	Democratic	1918–1919
8	Edward F. Boyle (c.1876–1943)	Democratic	1919
-	Michael Loughman (acting) (c.1867–1937)	Democratic	1919
9	Henry H. Curran3	Republican	1920–1921
10	Julius Miller (1880–1955)	Democratic	1922–1930
11	Samuel Levy (1876–1953)	Democratic	1931–1937
12	Stanley M. Isaacs (1882–1962)	Republican	1938–1941
13	Edgar J. Nathan (1891–1965)	Republican	1942–1945
14	Hugo Rogers (1899–1974)	Democratic	1946–1949
15	Robert F. Wagner, Jr.4 (1910–1991)	Democratic	1950–1953
16	Hulan E. Jack5 (1906–1986)	Democratic	1954–1961
17	Edward R. Dudley6 (1911–2005)	Democratic	1962–1964
-	Earl Louis Brown (acting)7 (1903–1980)	Democratic	1965
18	Constance Baker Motley8 (1921–2005)	Democratic	1965–1966
19	Percy Sutton3, 9 (1920–2009)	Democratic	1966–1977
20	Andrew Stein3 (born 1945)	Democratic	1978–1985
21	David Dinkins10, 3 (born 1927)	Democratic	1986–1989
22	Ruth Messinger3 (born 1941)	Democratic	1990–1997
23	C. Virginia Fields3 (born 1946)	Democratic	1998–2005
24	Scott Stringer (born 1960)	Democratic	2006–2013
25	Gale Brewer (born 1951)	Democratic	2014–

Notes:

†  Terms begin in January and end in December where not otherwise indicated.

c. (circa) approximately

1. President of the Board of Aldermen of the City of New York (first in succession to the Mayoralty), 1914–1916; New York City Comptroller, 1933

2. President of the Board of Aldermen, 1917

3. unsuccessful candidate for Mayor of the City of New York

4. Mayor of New York City, 1954–1965

5. removed from office January 16, 1961

6. on January 31, 1961, elected to fill vacancy; in November 1961, elected to a full term; in November 1964 elected to the Supreme Court; resigned on December 31, 1964

7. Deputy Borough President, acted as President between Dudley's resignation and Motley's election

8. on February 23, 1965, elected to fill vacancy; in November 1965 elected to full term; resigned upon taking office as federal judge

9. on September 13, 1966, elected to fill vacancy; in November 1966 elected to remainder of the term; then re-elected twice

10. Mayor of New York City, 1990–1993

Queens Borough Presidents

#	Borough President	Party	Term
1	Frederick Bowley (1851–1916)	Democratic	1898–1901
2	Joseph Cassidy (c.1866–1920)	Democratic	1902–1905
3	Joseph Bermel (1860–1921)	Democratic	1906–1908
4	Lawrence Gresser (1851–1935)	Democratic	1908–1911
5	Maurice E. Connolly (1881–1935)	Democratic	1911–1928
6	Bernard M. Patten	Democratic	1928
7	George U. Harvey (c. 1881–1946)	Republican	1929–1941
8	James A. Burke (1890–1965)	Democratic	1942–1949
9	Maurice A. FitzGerald (1897–1951)	Democratic	1950–1951
10	Joseph F. Mafera (1895–1967)	Democratic	1951
11	James A. Lundy (1903–1973)	Republican	1952–1957
12	James J. Crisona (1907–2003)	Democratic	1958–1959
13	John T. Clancy (1903–1985)	Democratic	1959–1962
14	Mario J. Cariello (1907–1985)	Democratic	1963–1968
15	Sidney Leviss (1917–2007)	Democratic	1969–1971
16	Donald Manes1 (1934–1986)	Democratic	1971–1986
17	Claire Shulman2 (born 1926)	Democratic	1986–2001
18	Helen M. Marshall (born 1929)	Democratic	2002–2013
19	Melinda Katz (born 1965)	Democratic	2014–

Notes:

c. (circa) approximately

1. Stepped down as borough president in February after attempting suicide while under suspicion of corruption. Manes committed suicide on March 13, 1986.

2. First woman to hold this position

Richmond/Staten Island Borough Presidents

In 1975, the Borough of Richmond formally renamed itself the Borough of Staten Island.

#	Borough President	Party	Term
1	George Cromwell (1860–1934)	Republican	1898–1913
2	Charles J. McCormack (died 1915)	Democratic	1914–1915
3	Calvin D. Van Name (1857–1924)	Democratic	1915–1921
4	Matthew J. Cahill (died 1922)	Democratic	1922
5	John A. Lynch	Democratic	1922–1933
6	Joseph A. Palma (1889–1969)	Republican	1934–1945
7	Cornelius A. Hall (1889–1953)	Democratic	1946–1953
8	Edward G. Baker (1906–1971)	Democratic	1953–1954
9	Albert V. Maniscalco (1908–1998)	Democratic	1955–1965
10	Robert T. Connor (1919–2009)	Republican	1966–1977
11	Anthony Gaeta (1927–1988)	Democratic	1978–1984
12	Ralph J. Lamberti (born 1933)	Democratic	1984–1989
13	Guy V. Molinari (born 1928)	Republican	1990–2001
14	James Molinaro (born 1931)	Conservative	2002–2013
15	James Oddo (born 1966)	Republican	2014–

See also

• Government of New York City
• Government and politics of the Bronx
• Government of Staten Island
• New York City Borough President elections, 2013
• List of New York City Borough Halls and municipal buildings
• Boro timelines: Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island

External links

• Borough Presidents in the Rules of the City of New York
• World Statesmen List of Borough Presidents