About BKCB18

Brooklyn Community Board 18 meets on the third Wednesday of each month with the exception of holidays. There are no meetings during July and August but the office is open. All board meetings are open to the public. Various committees also convene to discuss local issues. We are your local non-partisan interface to the many offices and agencies of City government.

Housing, Libraries & Education, Parks, Planning & Zoning, Transportation, Public Safety, Sanitation & Environment, Social Services, Health, & Older Adult Services, Youth & Technology, SLA, and Capital & Expense Budget.

The history of Community Boards can be found on New York City’s website under the Mayors Community Assistance Unit (CAU).

Community Boards in general have three distinct areas of focus – land use, budget and service delivery. CB18, in its advisory capacity, sponsors public meetings where topical issues involving the projects, programs and policies that affect the district will be presented, discussed and, at times, debated in an open forum.

The Community Board routinely reviews applications that involve the acquisition, disposition and/or significant change of use of City-owned properties. It hosts Public Hearings and sponsors open meetings to discuss and formulate recommendations on land use matters coming before it. The Community Board is the first stage at which land use matters are formally reviewed in accordance with the City’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP).

In addition to matters pertaining to City property, the Community Board also reviews items related to private properties where property owners are seeking approval to use, develop, or otherwise modify a property in a way that would not automatically be allowable under the property’s zoning designation. Other forms of land use reviews may involve properties in Landmark Districts or voluntary informational presentations by property owners.

The Community Boards are required to submit to the Mayor and the City Council their Capital (projects) and Expense (programs and services) budget priorities in the formulation of the City’s budget. CB18 is constantly receiving input from the public on projects, programs, and services that get funded in the City’s budget which is formulated by the Mayor and the City Council, with input from the Borough Presidents.

The day-to-day processing of citizen complaints and requests for municipal services are handled by the District Office under the supervision of the District Manager. The District Office is prepared to take complaints and requests for service from any constituent of the district. It is important to contact the District Office with complaints and requests for services so that the Community Board can monitor and work toward improving service delivery in the district. Calls such as these also provide the Community Board with important indicators of the levels of resources that might be most needed in the district, reflected by the types of calls received.

These statements can be found on the NYC City Planning website.

A section of every general Community Board meeting is set aside for the board to hear from the public. At the front of the meeting room there will be a sign-in sheet where anyone is invited to sign in to speak for up to 2-3 minutes. The Open Discussion portion of all Community Board 18 meetings is limited to 20 minutes in total. Each speaker will be limited in speaking time at the Chair’s discretion based on the total number of requests received. The Chairperson will acknowledge speakers in the order they sign in. No pre-registration is necessary.

The CB18 District Office has two primary functions – to process citizen complaints and requests for services, and to provide administrative support for the Community Board. The District Office maintains all the public records of the activities of the Community Board and is responsible for setting up and preparing notices of all Community Board meetings and functions. Additionally, the District Office processes Street Activity Permits for Block Party street closures, requests for Tree Plantings, monitors the delivery of municipal services and, in general, acts as a one stop shopping point for information and referrals pertaining to all City government matters. The District Office is a professional, non-partisan office and there are no fees for any service provided.

Just about any complaint that involves a municipal service can be called in to the District Office. This includes such items as, but is not limited to:

• Reporting a pothole, requesting street resurfacing
• A tree that needs pruning, stump or dead tree removal, new tree planting
• Missing or damaged signs
• Malfunctioning street lights
• Clogged catch basin, water leaks, leaking fire hydrants, odors
• Missed garbage collection or holiday pickup questions
• Building permit questions, zoning inquiries

These are some examples of the more common complaints that are called in to the District Office. By acting as the community’s eyes and ears and reporting items such as this to the Community Board you can take away the satisfaction of having made a positive contribution to improving the quality of life in your neighborhood. A common mistake people make is that they assume that someone else will report a problem; many problems go unreported because of this. You have the power to make a positive change in your community with just one phone call.

Email us at bk18@cb.nyc.gov or call the District office at 718-241-0422. You can also submit a complaint by clicking on the contact link on our website and Send Us a Message.

Please note all pertinent information (e.g. exact location or street address, cross streets, etc.) related to the type of complaint you wish to report must be included. Having insufficient information or the wrong address may only serve to delay our efforts to help resolve the problem. We suggest that you have as much information as possible available at the time that you call. Remember, in order for us to help resolve your complaint, you must help us by accurately identifying the problem.