Who Is the Brooklyn Borough President? Powers, Salary, and Term

The Brooklyn Borough President is Antonio Reynoso, a Democrat who took office on January 1, 2022, after succeeding Eric Adams when Adams was elected mayor.¹ The office is the top elected position for New York City’s most populous borough, home to roughly 2.7 million people, and it functions as part land-use reviewer, part budget allocator, and part advocate between Brooklyn neighborhoods and City Hall.²

Who Antonio Reynoso Is

Reynoso is Brooklyn’s 20th Borough President and the youngest person elected to the office for a four-year term.³ The son of two Dominican immigrants, he was born and raised in the Los Sures section of Williamsburg. Before running borough-wide, he represented City Council District 34 from 2013 to 2021, covering Bushwick, Williamsburg, and Ridgewood, and chaired the Council’s Committee on Sanitation and Solid Waste Management, where he pushed through the Commercial Waste Zones and Waste Equity bills.¹

His administration has emphasized urban planning, public health equity, and affordable housing. Deputy Borough President Rev. Kim Council works alongside him on housing, gun violence prevention, and support for small businesses.⁴

What the Borough President Does

The office is more limited than many New Yorkers assume. Its authority comes from the New York City Charter, and it centers on three concrete powers plus a broad advocacy role.

Land Use Recommendations

Whenever a major rezoning or significant development is proposed in Brooklyn, the borough president holds a public hearing and issues a formal recommendation to the City Planning Commission through the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, or ULURP. The recommendation can approve, approve with conditions, or disapprove the application, and it must be issued within 30 days of the community board’s submission.⁵ The recommendation is advisory rather than binding, but it carries political weight when the City Council takes its final vote.

Community Board and Planning Commission Appointments

Brooklyn has 18 community boards, each with roughly 50 volunteer members serving two-year terms. The borough president appoints about half of each board’s members; the rest come from the City Council members whose districts fall within the board’s area.⁶ Community boards give the first review on land-use applications, liquor licenses, and street-fair permits, so these appointments shape how neighborhoods weigh in on local decisions.⁷ The borough president also appoints one member to the 13-person City Planning Commission.⁵

Capital Budget Allocations

Each borough president controls a share of the city’s capital budget. Under the Charter, five percent of the city’s debt-supported capital appropriations (excluding lump-sum allocations for school construction and rapid transit given to public authorities) is divided among the five boroughs using a formula that equally weights population and land area.⁸ Reynoso decides how Brooklyn’s share is spent, typically funding school upgrades, park improvements, library renovations, and technology for senior centers.⁹

Salary, Term, and Eligibility

The borough president’s annual salary is set by the New York City Charter at $179,200.¹⁰ The officeholder is eligible for benefits through the New York City Employees’ Retirement System and can access retiree health benefits after ten years of credited service.¹¹

The term runs four years, on the same cycle as the mayoral race, and candidates must live in Brooklyn at the time of election and throughout the term.¹² No one may serve more than two consecutive full terms, though a former borough president can run again after sitting out at least one full term.¹³ A borough president who resigns or is removed before finishing a term is still counted as having served a full term under the term-limits law.¹⁰

If the Seat Becomes Vacant

If the borough president’s seat opens mid-term, the deputy borough president or executive assistant (in the priority the outgoing president designated) acts as borough president until a successor is elected.¹⁰ The mayor must proclaim a special election date within three days of the vacancy, and candidates have 12 days to submit ballot petitions to the Board of Elections.¹⁴

The special election is typically scheduled for the first Tuesday at least 80 days after the vacancy, though the exact date can shift to boost turnout. The winner serves temporarily until a regular primary and general election fill the seat for the remainder of the unexpired term. If the vacancy happens late enough, the special election winner simply serves out what is left.¹⁴

How to Reach the Office

Brooklyn Borough Hall sits at 209 Joralemon Street, between Court and Adams Streets, and is the borough’s oldest public building.¹⁵ Staff handle constituent services ranging from problems with city agencies to community board applications. Residents can also attend public land-use hearings or contact the office through brooklynbp.nyc.gov.¹⁶

1
Ballotpedia. Antonio Reynoso
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Brooklyn Paper. Brooklyns Population Increases by Over 230k in 2020 Census Results
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Office of the Brooklyn Borough President. Meet Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso
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Office of the Brooklyn Borough President. Meet Deputy Borough President Kim Council
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American Legal Publishing. New York City Charter – Section 82 Powers and Duties
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Office of the Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso. Community Boards
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Brooklyn Community District 2. Brooklyn Community District 2
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Justia Law. New York Code – Capital Budget Borough Allocations
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Office of the Brooklyn Borough President. Get Funded by Borough President Reynoso
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American Legal Publishing. New York City Charter – Section 81 Qualifications, Election, Term, Salary, Removal, Vacancy
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Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget. Employee Benefits
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NYC Charter. Chapter 4 – Borough Presidents – Section 81
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NYC Charter. Chapter 50 – Term Limits – Section 1138
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New York City Campaign Finance Board. Special Elections
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Department of Citywide Administrative Services. Brooklyn Borough Hall
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Office of the Brooklyn Borough President. Office of the Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso