Frequently Asked Questions

There are 59 Community Boards throughout New York City (18 in Brooklyn), each representing a community district. Community Boards are municipal agencies of up to 50 non-salaried volunteer members who are considered officials of the City of New York. They are people who either live, work or have a significant interest in the Board's district. Board Members are appointed by the Borough President, with half nominated by the City Council members who represent the district. Community Boards hire a District Manager who is responsible for running the District Office.

Community Boards works with other governmental agencies on matters affecting the social welfare of the district. The Community Board serves in an advisory capacity to all city officials and agencies and offers recommendations on issues affecting or that will affect the community district.

Brooklyn Community Board 9 serves the neighborhoods of Crown Heights South, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Wingate and portions of North Flatbush. For a map of the district, please view the Map of Brooklyn Community Board 9.

Brooklyn Community Board generally holds General Board meetings on the fourth Tuesday of each month, except during the summer (July & August) virtually. All General Board meetings are open to the public. The public is allowed to speak during the Public Comment portion of the meeting. To speak at a General Board meeting, members of the public MUST pre-register by calling the District Office at 718-778-9279 or emailing bk09-1@cb.nyc.gov requesting to speak at the General Board meeting no later than 4PM on the day of the General Board meeting. The Chair reserves the right to limit the duration of time an individual can speak during the Public Comment.

The Open Meetings Law applies to "public bodies." That term is defined to include entities consisting of two or more people who conduct public business and perform a governmental function for New York State, for an agency of the state or for public corporations, such as cities, counties, towns, villages and school districts including committees and subcommittees of these entities. Consequently, city councils, town boards, village boards of trustees, school boards, commissions, legislative bodies, and committees and subcommittees consisting of members of those groups fall within the coverage of the Law.
Learn more about the Open Meetings Law

Due to the ongoing pandemic, Brooklyn Community Board 9 General Board, Executive, and committee meetings are held virtually via ZOOM until further notice. To obtain the login credentials for all General Board, Executive, and committee meetings, please view CB9's calendar and select the meeting you would like to attend. The login credentials are located in the meeting notice on the calendar. Please note for General Board and Executive meetings, members of the public MUST pre-register to receive the login credentials for the meetings. Pre-registration is not required to attend committee meetings.

A District Manager is hired by the Board Members to oversee the delivery of City services and manage the daily business functions of the Board. The District Manager supervises a small staff who processes complaints and requests related to service delivery and provides administrative support to 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.

The District Manager meets with City agency representatives monthly from September to June to discuss and evaluate service delivery.

We handle complaints relating to municipal services (City of New York). Issues reported to the District Office are not limited to quality of life issues, but include: potholes, tree pruning, ponding on a street, trash in catch basin, street lights, sidewalk trip hazards, missed garbage collection, etc. Regardless of the issue, you can call or email our office and we will direct accordingly.

You can file a complaint on our website by filling out the form on our Contact Us page.

You can call 311. Once you have filed your complaint via 311, you will receive a service request number. You can call or email our District Office to provide our staff with your service request number. Our District Manager will connect with the appropriate city agency to follow up and request an update on your complaint.

Attending meetings is a great way to understand the prevalent and underlying issues affecting the district and provides you the opportunity to advocate for your position. You can also apply to join as a resident member to the Board's committee. The Board's committees for resident members to join are the following: Economic Development; Environmental Protection; Health and Social Services; Housing; Parks, Recreation, and Culture; Public Safety, Transportation, ULURP, and Youth Services. You can fill out CB9's Resident Member Application to apply.

You can view CB9's street activity guidelines and procedures on our Block Parties and Street Activities page.

You can file a FOIL request online.