New York City Board of Estimate
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The New York City Board of Estimate was a governmental body in New York City, responsible for budget and land-use decisions. Under the charter of the newly amalgamated City of Greater New York (Passed 1897, effective 1898) the Board of Estimate and Apportionment was composed of eight ex officio members: the Mayor of New York City, the New York City Comptroller and the President of the Board of Aldermen (i.e. City Council), each of whom was elected citywide and had two votes, and the five Borough presidents, each having one vote.[1] The Laguardia Reform Charter of 1938 simplified its name and enhanced its powers.
In 1989, the Supreme Court of the United States, in Board of Estimate of City of New York v. Morris declared the New York City Board of Estimate unconstitutional on the grounds that the city's most populous borough (Brooklyn) had no greater effective representation on the board than the city's least populous borough (Staten Island), this arrangement being a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause pursuant to the high court's 1964 "one man, one vote" decision (Reynolds v. Sims). [2]
Under the newly rewritten 1990 City Charter, most of the responsibilities that the Board of Estimate had previously had were delegated to the New York City Council.
