An explainer for Hunters Point South and Long Island City residents of the many different layers of government.
There’s so many layers.
New York City has more layers of government than almost any other city in America. For residents of Hunters Point South and Long Island City, that means your daily life is touched by at least half a dozen overlapping bodies, each with different powers, different elections, and different ways to get involved. Here’s how they stack up.
How It All Fits Together
Here’s a quick reference of the different layers of NYC government:
| Body | What It Covers | Our Representative/Unit |
|---|---|---|
| Community Board | Neighborhood advisory, land use, resident complaints | CB2 (HPS/LIC south), CB1 (LIC north) |
| Borough President | Land use review, CB appointments | Queens BP Donovan Richards |
| City Council | City laws, budget, agency oversight | District 26 / CM Julie Won |
| Mayor’s Office | City agencies, executive functions | Mayor Mamdani |
| NYC Public Schools | Citywide school policy | Chancellor (mayoral appointment) |
| Geographic District 30 | Local school administration | Superintendent |
| Community Education Council | Parent input on local school policy | CEC 30 |
| State Legislature | State law, MTA, rent laws | Assemblymember & Senator |
Hunters Point Ledger
Local news for Hunters Point South and Long Island City. Not Queens. Not New York City. This neighborhood.
Community Boards
What they are: Community boards are the most local layer of city government, and the one most people have never heard of. There are 59 of them across the five boroughs. Hunters Point South and most of Long Island City fall within Queens Community Board 2 (CB2), which also covers Sunnyside and Woodside. The northern part of Long Island City (including Queensbridge) is in Community Board 1 (CB1).
What they do: Community boards are advisory bodies. They don’t pass laws or control budgets; but they hold public hearings on land use and development, review liquor license applications, weigh in on capital budget priorities, and serve as an official channel for resident concerns to reach city agencies. When a developer wants to rezone a parcel in HPS, or the DOT proposes a parking redesign on Center Boulevard, CB2 gets a formal say.
How they’re composed: Each board has up to 50 volunteer members. Half are nominated by the local City Council member; all are appointed by the Queens Borough President. Members serve two-year terms. Meetings are open to the public, and non-members can speak during public comment.
How to get involved: You don’t have to be a member to participate. CB2 holds monthly full board meetings and committee meetings (transportation, land use, parks, etc.) that are open to any resident. Attending is one of the most direct ways to weigh in on neighborhood decisions.
How to reach them: Queens Community Board 2 can be reached via email at qn02@cb.nyc.gov or call (718) 533-8773
Disclosure: The publisher of the Hunters Point Ledger is a member of Queens Community Board 2.
Borough President
The Queens Borough President sits between community boards and the Mayor. The office is a middle layer with two main functions that directly affect our neighborhood. First, the Borough President appoints all community board members in Queens, including CB1 and CB2, which is why who holds that office matters for local representation. Second, the Borough President issues formal recommendations on major land use applications — rezonings, large developments — before they reach the City Council. Those recommendations aren’t binding, but they carry political weight and are part of the public record.
The Borough President also controls a modest capital budget for borough-wide projects and can propose (but not vote on) City Council legislation. The current Borough President is Donovan Richards Jr., who won re-election in November 2025.
How to reach them: email the office at info@queensbp.nyc.gov or call 718-286-3000
City Council Districts
What they are: The New York City Council is the city’s legislature. It’s the body that passes local laws, approves the city budget, and oversees city agencies. The Council has 51 members, each representing a district of roughly 160,000 residents.
Our district: Hunters Point South and Long Island City are represented by Council District 26, currently held by Council Member Julie Won. The 26th Council district in Western Queens, covers Long Island City, Sunnyside, Astoria, and Woodside.
What the Council member does: Our Council member controls a discretionary budget (called “member items”) that funds local parks, cultural organizations, and capital projects. They also vote on citywide legislation and the annual budget, and serve on committees. When you have a problem with a city agency — a pothole that won’t get fixed, a complaint about a construction site, a question about a permit — the Council member’s district office is often your most direct contact.
How to reach them: District 26’s office is at 37-04 Queens Boulevard, Suite 205, in Long Island City, open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can also email district26@council.nyc.gov or call (718) 383-9566.
The Mayor and Citywide Government
What it is: The Mayor of New York City is the chief executive, the equivalent of a governor or President, for a city of 8.3 million people. The Mayor leads more than 300,000 city employees and oversees agencies ranging from the NYPD to the Department of Buildings to the Department of Transportation.
What the Mayor controls: Nearly everything that touches your daily life as a city resident runs through a mayoral agency. Trash pickup: the Department of Sanitation. Building permits: the Department of Buildings. Street design: the Department of Transportation. Parks maintenance: the Department of Parks and Recreation. The Mayor also proposes the city’s annual budget (which runs into the tens of billions of dollars), which the City Council then negotiates and approves.
Other citywide offices: Alongside the Mayor, voters also elect the Public Advocate (an ombudsman who investigates city agencies and can introduce legislation) and the Comptroller (who audits city spending).
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Units Got Smaller. Households Didn’t
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School Districts and the NYC Schools Structure
The big picture: New York City’s public school system, officially called NYC Public Schools (formerly the Department of Education), is one of the largest in the country, serving over one million students. It’s led by a Chancellor, who is appointed by the Mayor. There is also a citywide Panel for Educational Policy (PEP) that the Mayor controls, which votes on major policy decisions.
Geographic districts
Beneath the citywide level, the city is divided into 32 geographic school districts, each covering a neighborhood cluster. These districts handle day-to-day administration of local schools and are overseen by a superintendent.
Our district: Hunters Point South and Long Island City are part of Geographic District 30, which covers the northwest corner of Queens. This includes Astoria, Jackson Heights, Sunnyside, and LIC.
Local schools in our area that fall under District 30 include Hunters Point Elementary School (PS 384), PS/IS 78, Hunters Point Community Middle School, and Long Island City High School. There are multiple schools under construction to meet the growing population’s needs.
Community Education Councils (CECs): CEC 30
Each geographic district has a Community Education Council, ours is CEC 30 which is made up of elected parent representatives. CECs advise on curriculum, school zoning, and other local education policy. They’re elected by parents of students enrolled in district schools, one of the few direct-election roles in the school governance system.
How to get involved: Attend meetings, or run for your CEC. CEC 30 elections are held every two years.
School Leadership Team (SLT)
A School Leadership Team is a school-level body, not a district or citywide one, made up of the principal, parents, and teachers working together to set the educational direction of a single school. Each SLT develops the school’s Comprehensive Education Plan, which guides how the school allocates resources and sets instructional priorities. State law requires every NYC public school to have one.
Parent Teacher Associations (PTA)
Every NYC public school has a Parent Association (PA) or Parent-Teacher Association (PTA); the difference is mostly in name. It’s the parent body that organizes school events, raises supplemental funds, and serves as the official voice of families to the principal. Membership is open to any parent or guardian with a child enrolled in the school. The PA/PTA also elects the parent representatives who sit on the School Leadership Team.
The State Layer
Why it matters for us: New York City does not operate in isolation. Many of the things that feel local are actually set or heavily influenced by New York State government in Albany. This includes rent stabilization laws, MTA subway service, charter school rules, housing vouchers, the congestion zone, amongst other areas. The MTA, which runs the subway and buses, is a state authority, not a city agency. That’s why the Mayor can’t simply “fix” the subway. The Governor and State Legislature have more direct control.
Who represents us there: NY State is composed of Assembly members and State Senators. Hunters Point South and LIC fall within multiple overlapping state districts. State legislators vote on the laws that set the framework within which the city operates. The State budget is the primary piece of legislation which affects NYC.
Have a question about how a particular issue — like a new development, a school rezoning, or a street redesign — moves through these layers? Send a tip to tips@hpl.nyc and we’ll look into it.
