The New York City Council is a unicameral body consisting of 51 members, each elected from a geographic district, normally for four-year terms.

Rather, the municipal structure of New York City exists in a category of its own (sui generis).

[8] The executive branch of New York City consists of the Mayor, and numerous departments, boards and commissions.

Along with the mayor, the Public Advocate and the Comptroller are the only three directly elected citywide officials in New York City.

[17][18] The Comptroller stands second, after the Public Advocate, in the line to succeed a mayor who has become unable to serve.

Council members are elected every four years, except that after every census held in years divisible by twenty, districts are redrawn, requiring two consecutive two-year terms, the second of which is held in the redrawn districts.

A local law has a status equivalent with a law enacted by the New York State Legislature (subject to certain exceptions and restrictions[23]), and is superior to the older forms of municipal legislation such as ordinances, resolutions, rules and regulations.

Although it could not pass laws, it shared authority for the city budget with the council and controlled functions such as land use, municipal contracts, franchises, and water and sewer rates.

In 1989, the Supreme Court of the United States struck down the Board of Estimate as violating the principle of "one man, one vote", due to the dramatically unequal numbers of constituents being represented by each borough president.

[30] There are also several extrajudicial administrative courts, e.g. the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH) adjudicates matters for city agencies unless otherwise provided for by law, and the city Parking Violations Bureau adjudicates parking violations.

New York City is composed of five boroughs or counties, collectively comprising 59 community districts.

[36] The borough boards can hold or conduct public or private hearings, adopt by-laws, prepare comprehensive and special purpose plans and make recommendations for land use and planning, mediate disputes and conflicts among two or more community boards, submit a comprehensive statement of the expense and capital budget priorities and needs, evaluate the progress of capital developments and the quality and quantity of services provided by agencies, and otherwise consider the needs of the borough.

[38][39] Community boards advise on land use and zoning, participate in the city budget process, and address service delivery in their district.

[40] Community boards act in an advisory capacity, wielding no official authority to make or enforce laws.

[42] There is also a sixth DA, the Office of the Special Prosecutor for Narcotics,[43] who is unelected, but appointed by the five elected DAs.

The political parties' judicial nominating conventions select candidate New York Supreme Court justices.

[50] Candidates for the citywide offices of mayor, comptroller and public advocate are designated jointly by the five county executive committees of each party.

[51] In most cases, insurgents who are party members can challenge party-designated candidates by petitioning for a primary election.

Its blue, white, and orange bands represent the colors of the Dutch flag that flew over the city, then New Amsterdam, between the 1620s and 1660s.

Located in the center is a blue print of the official Seal of New York City minus its Latin motto.