New York City is a vibrant metropolis with a complex political system. The City Council is the legislative body of the city, with 51 elected members, one from each council district. This governing body is responsible for enacting laws, approving the city's budget, monitoring the activities of municipal agencies, making decisions on land use, and collaborating with the Mayor in New York City government. The president of the City Council is Adrienne Adams. The New York State Legislature is composed of a 63-member Senate and a 150-member Assembly.
Each New York resident has a state senator and a member of the Assembly who represents them in Albany. The State Constitution outlines the organization and jurisdiction of New York State's unified judicial system, which has become one of the most active and intricate in the world. Local governments have the power to pass local laws that are not in conflict with the provisions of the State Constitution or other general laws. The Legislature, on the other hand, cannot pass any law that affects only one locality, unless the governing body of that locality has first approved the bill called the request for autonomy or unless there is a state interest. The main exception to this structure is the Commissioner of Education, who is chosen for this position by the regents of the State University of New York. Errol Louis interviews political journalists, experts, and consultants from New York City and beyond on NY1's Inside City Hall program every night at 7 p.m.New York City politicians have often had a great influence in other countries represented in the city's ethnic mix, such as in the development of the MacBride Principles, which affect labor practices in Northern Ireland.
New York City also has federal buildings in downtown Manhattan that house buildings for the United States Attorney and the FBI. Within these counties there are 62 cities (including New York City), 932 towns, 555 villages, and 697 school districts (including New York City). New York City residents pay income tax to the municipality, in addition to New York State income taxes, in brackets ranging from 2.9% to 3.7% of state taxable income. The Working Families Party, affiliated with the labor movement and progressive community activists, is a powerful force in city politics. In 1846, New York State voters rejected a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would guarantee blacks equal voting rights as whites. It generally limits its civil jurisdiction to state cases, while, in New York City and some other parts of the state, it also judges felony cases. There are four courts of lower jurisdiction outside the district, city, town and village courts of New York City that deal with minor civil and criminal matters.
