News Analysis: Community Boards

Each community board in New York City exerts a different amount of control and power over its jurisdiction, so the board, in the right hands, could prove to be a powerful device.  But this power equation hinges on a few factors.

“It depends a little bit on which board it is and who their allies are,” said Michael Krasner, an associate professor of political science at Queens College.

For example, the community boards of the West Side and Lower Manhattan recently wielded their influence and stopped development — or at least slowed it down.  The termination of the West Side highway project can be attributed to the protest of the community through its board. The board of Greenwich Village also saw a small victory in the recent NYU planning proposals, which outlined a promise to cooperate with the community for the school’s expansion.

But community boards have also failed when it came time to step up to developers.  The boards of West Harlem failed to stop Columbia’s expansion into the neighborhood.  And when a Bronx board rejected plans for the new Yankee stadium, the council went ahead and approved it anyway.  Construction has already begun.