Strengthening Neighborhood Democracy through New York City’s Community Boards

Community Boards and the Civic Engagement Commission: Distinctive Civic Infrastructure

New York City has a long history of activism and community involvement across the five boroughs. Part of that history is the creation of what they call the first level of local government, or Community Boards. Its 59 Community Boards are local, non-partisan government bodies that connect residents with City government and help address issues affecting their neighborhoods, particularly related to land use, zoning, and the City’s budget. Each board represents a Community District and consists of 50 unpaid members appointed by the Borough President, with half nominated by local City Council members. Many Community Boards permit members of the public to participate through policy-specific subcommittees, and they serve as important forums for residents trying to build awareness of neighborhood concerns.

While many other U.S. cities of comparable size have forums for resident participation, New York City is distinct in the country in having a charter-mandated Civic Engagement Commission (CEC), created by voters through a 2018 amendment to the City Charter. The Commission is charged with increasing civic participation, strengthening civic trust, and expanding opportunities for New Yorkers to engage in local decision-making. Its responsibilities include The People’s Money, New York City’s citywide participatory budgeting program, as well as voter language assistance and support and training for Community Boards.

Together, the CEC and Community Boards represent important pieces of New York City’s unique approach to creating civic infrastructure, and they offer significant opportunities for strengthening participation in local democracy.

The Better Public Meetings Process in New York City

In spring 2026, the National Civic League’s Center for Democracy Innovation partnered with the Civic Engagement Commission, Perfect City, and New York City Community Boards to launch Better Public Meetings NYC. The project sought to better understand how New Yorkers experience public meetings and civic participation and identify opportunities to make those experiences more inclusive, productive, and meaningful.

The first phase centered on a Civic Infrastructure Scan examining not only what happens during public meetings, but also the relationships, systems, and institutions that shape participation before and after them. The research included 18 interviews with CEC staff and commissioners, Community Board members, District Managers, and staff of elected officials. It was complemented by 113 responses to a Public Meeting Scorecard, which asked participants to evaluate meetings they had attended, and 96 responses to a broader community survey about civic participation in New York City.

The initial findings were presented for discussion at a public forum held on July 22, 2026, in Columbia University’s Lee C. Bollinger Forum. Ninety members of the public, including Community Board members and staff, civic leaders, and other residents, attended. The event included an interactive civic arts performance led by Perfect City in which participants reenacted excerpts from actual Community Board meeting transcripts, allowing them to “walk a mile in each other’s words” and consider how meeting structures, public comment, agendas, and procedural rules shape participation.

Following the performance, the Center for Democracy Innovation presented emerging research findings and participants moved into small-group conversations about Community Board best practices and what an ideal public meeting should entail. Their discussions emphasized clarity in meeting structure, dialogue between boards and residents, ongoing engagement efforts, community building, and inclusive participation.

Research Findings

The Better Public Meetings research found a city with considerable civic energy and innovation, but also persistent challenges related to trust, inclusion, access, representation, and the connection between public participation and decision-making. Improving public meetings, the research suggests, requires looking beyond the meeting itself to the broader civic infrastructure that supports democratic participation.

Six interconnected insights emerged from the research:

• Neighborhoods in NYC already possess significant civic energy and capacity, but stronger connections can be created between these broader aspects of civic life (student groups, tenant groups, faith organizations, local organizing networks, etc.) and public institutions.
• Public meetings need to resolve a tension between balancing legal governance responsibilities with growing expectations to foster dialogue, learning, and neighborhood participation.
• Different avenues for participation would enable members of the public to fit civic life into busy schedules. Reaching working families, newcomers, younger residents, and historically underrepresented communities requires intentional outreach to where they spend time, welcoming civic spaces that can support childcare, and consistent online and digital opportunities.
• Good practices for engaging the public are present in New York City’s civic institutions, but promising practices are not often documented, shared, or adapted across communities.
• Fostering meaningful democratic participation requires supporting the people who sustain civic infrastructure. Training, institutional memory, partnerships, technology, peer learning, and organizational capacity all shape the quality of public participation.
• The Civic Engagement Commission has an opportunity to strengthen the civic ecosystem, not only through programming but also by serving as a connector, convener, and learning hub that supports collaboration and democratic innovation across the city.

What Comes Next

With 59 independently operating Community Boards and its unique Civic Engagement Commission, New York City has many avenues to implement innovations to improve civic participation:

• A Peer-Learning Cohort of Community Boards: New York City’s Community Districts are incredibly diverse, and likewise Community Boards’ meeting practices. This diversity creates an opportunity for different Community Boards to pilot different programs, share findings, and learn from one another. Through the Better Public Meetings project, the National Civic League is partnering with the Civic Engagement Commission to facilitate this cross-pollination of best practices through a peer-learning cohort of Community Board members and staff.
• Agenda Innovation at the CEC: The CEC itself is another venue for democratic innovations. The National Civic League is working with the Commission to explore ways to bring more deliberative meeting structures to the Commission’s regular meetings.

Explore the Better Public Meetings research and recommendations for New York City