The district was realigned to include majority African American neighborhoods such as Bedford-Stuyvesant in Central Brooklyn.

Until 1992, it was the Central Brooklyn district now held by Yvette Clarke (and formerly by Major Owens), and then remapped to include Hispanic neighborhoods in Lower Manhattan and Queens.

Prior to the 2010s redistricting, the district included several neighborhoods in the East Side of Manhattan, the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn, and western Queens, as well as Roosevelt Island, mostly overlapping the pre-redistricting 14th district.

In New York, there are numerous minor parties at various points on the political spectrum.

Certain parties will invariably endorse either the Republican or Democratic candidate for every office; hence, the state electoral results contain both the party votes, and the final candidate votes (Listed as "Recap").