New York Government

New York State and New York City government structure is divided into executive, legislative and judicial branches. New York State’s cities, villages and towns also have authority to provide services to their population. Public authorities are hired to handle services for their cities, or towns.

Branches of Government of New York State

Executive Branch

Governor -- Lieutenant Governor -- Attorney General -- Secretary of State -- Comptroller

Legislative Branch

New York State Assembly -- New York State Senate -- Bill Information – Congressional – Delegation

Judicial

New York State Unified Court System -- New York State Courts -- Decisions from New York State Courts

The Executive Branch

The Executive branch executes New York's laws.  The head of this branch is the governor.  The current New York Governor is Andrew M. Cuomo.  The governor is elected for a four-year term and can serve two terms.  He has different departments working under him, as it is shown above.  The governor elected is given the power to appoint his own officials and department heads.  He can veto any bill and plans the budget for the state.

The Legislative Branch

The Legislative branch is the Lawmaking branch. It is composed of two parts: The State Senate and The State Assembly. The Senate is composed of 62 members and the Assembly of 150 members. Both the Senate and the Assembly members are elected by the people and serve for 2 years.

The Judicial Branch

The Judicial Branch job is to interpret the laws. The judicial system is composed of judges, part-time judges and non-judicial employees. It has different levels of the courts with the highest being the Court of Appeals. The governor picks the judges with the approval of the Senate.

New York City

New York city consists of five boroughs, but with unified in one city government. New York City boroughs, which are Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, The Bronx, and Staten Island, are also counties. The city govern structure is also divided by a executive, legislative and judicial branches.

The Mayor

The Mayor is the head of the executive branch of New York City. The people elect the Mayor by popular vote. The current mayor is Michael Bloomberg. The mayor is given power to choose the head of the departments working under him, veto bills, and propose a budget. He or she has four deputy mayors working with he or she. The New York City Mayor manages many department, offices and boards. Other executive officials working on the executive branch are Deputy Mayors, Public Advocates, Comptrollers, and president of the boroughs.

The city council

New York City’s Legislative branch is called, the city and, it is composed of representatives of each of the 51 districts of the city. Members pass local laws, supervise city agencies, approve the budget, and decide land-use issues. In the case of the mayor vetoing a bill, the city council has a period of 30 days to overrule it, but it needs a 2/3 of a majority vote.

The New York City Judicial

New York City’s judicial system is different from other cities in New York State. The city has its own New York City Civil Court instead of various county courts. The courts are united for all the counties. The courts handle misdemeanors, lawsuits, felonies, election matters and more. New York City courts are divided into judicial districts and are independent of the city government. They also elect Supreme court judges. New York city has its own civil, criminal and family courts.

Checks and Balances

The judicial system of New York State and New York City like any other Judicial system have are organized to ensure proper restraints and limiting power and control over each other. The system of checks and balances operates under provisions of the Federal Constitution. The system was created to ensure proper performance and limits control, and prevent abuse.