City council passes laws that determine what can be built where (can you turn that old factory into apartments) and where different kinds of businesses can operate (can you open a liquor store near a school). They also pass budgets, create boards and commissions to solve problems and create parks.
They’re not just criticizing the administration in public statements – they’re delivering on some of their co-equal roles by taking aggressive action – like overriding the mayor’s veto of a package of bills that expand eligibility for housing rental vouchers. They’re also passing legislation aimed at tackling homelessness, including the speaker’s Fair Housing Framework and bills that set housing production target goals (though not mandates) in every borough.
Unlike Congress or the state legislature, which are heavily partisan, most of the city council’s members don’t belong to any particular political party. That’s because the council is so big, and so complicated, that partisanship can get in the way of the work.
The vast majority of the council’s legislative work is done in committee. Each council member serves on two or more of the council’s seven standing committees, where proposed ordinances are initially debated and members from other government branches and the public are given a chance to speak. Before a bill can be passed by the full council, it must be considered and approved by the relevant committees, printed as reported out of committee, distributed to councilmembers, and then put on the agenda for a vote.
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