LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT

Legislative Power; Where Vested.

Section 1. The legislative power of the city of new York shall be vested in a council and a board of aldermen to be together styled, "The Municipal Assembly of The City of New York."

Council; Number of; President; Quorum.

Sec. 2. The council shall consist of thirty-seven members, one of whom shall be its president. The president shall be chosen on a general ticket by the qualified voters of the city at the same time and for the same term as that prescribed for the mayor. He shall be known as the president of the city council, and shall except as herein provided, possess all the rights, privileges and powers, and perform the duties now conferred or imposed by law upon the president of the board of aldermen, of the mayor, aldermen and commonalty of the city of New York. A majority of the council shall constitute a quorum.

Council, How Chosen; Council Districts; term; first meeting; ex-Mayors to Sit in Council.

Sec. 3. The remaining thirty-six members of the council shall be chosen at the same election in the manner following:

The city of New York as constituted by this act is hereby divided into ten council districts bounded and described as follows, to wit:

First__All that part of the city of New York as heretofore constituted comprising the present First, Second, Fourth, Sixth, Eighth, Tenth, Twelfth, Fourteenth and Sixteenth assembly districts.

Second__All that part of the city of New York, as heretofore constituted comprising the present Third, Fifth, Seventh, Ninth, Eleventh, Thirteenth, Fifteenth, Seventeenth, Twenty-fifth and Twenty-seventh Assembly districts.

Third__All that part of the city of New York, as heretofore constituted comprising the present Eighteenth, Twentieth, Twenty-second, Twenty-fourth, Twenty-sixth, Twenty-eighth, Thirtieth, Thirty-second and Thirty-fourth Assembly districts.

Fourth__All that part of the city of New York, as herefore constituted comprising the present Nineteenth, Twenty-first, Twenty-third, Twenty-ninth and Thirty-first Assembly districts, and that part of the Thirty-fourth Assembly district lying south of the Harlem river.

Fifth__All that part of the city of New York, as heretofore constituted comprising that part of the present Thirty-fourth Assembly district lying north and east of the Harlem river and the whole of the Thirty-fifth Assembly district, together with the district known as the annexed district of said city, being all that part of the city of New York lying north and east of the Harlem river.

Sixth__All that part of the late city of Brooklyn, comprising the present Thirteenth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth, Sixteenth, Seventeenth, Eighteenth, Nineteenth, Twenty-first, Twenty-fifth, Twenty-seventh and Twenty-eighth wards of said city.

Seventh__All that part of the late city of Brooklyn, comprising the present Seventh, Ninth, Twentieth, Twenty-second, Twenty-third, Twenty-fourth, Twenty-sixth, Twenty-ninth and Thirty-second wards of said city.

Eighth__All that part of the late city of Brooklyn, comprising the present First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth, Thirtieth and Thirty-first wards of said city.

Ninth__That part of Queens county included in the city of New York as constituted by this act.

Tenth__The county of Richmond.
From each one of the first eight of said council districts there shall be elected four members of the council.

From that part of the County of Queens included within the city of New York as constituted by this act, comprising the Ninth of the said council districts, there shall be elected two members of the council.

From the County of Richmond, comprising the Tenth of the said council districts, there shall be elected two members of the council.

The term of office of each member of the council shall commence on the first Monday of January after his election, and shall continue for two years thereafter, or until his successor shall have been elected and have qualified.

The first meeting of said council shall be held on the first Monday of january, 1898, and thereafter the stated and occasional meetings of the council shall be regulated by its own resolutions and rules.

Every ex-mayor of the city of New York, as constituted by this act, shall so long as he remains a resident of said city, be entitled to a seat in the council and to the privileges of the floor, but he shall not be entitled to a vote.

When President of Council to Act as Mayor; Powers; Temporary Chairman of Council.

Sec. 4. Whenever there shall be a vacancy in the office of mayor, or whenever by reason of sickness or absence from the city he shall be prevented from attending to the duties of his office, the president of the council shall act as mayor, and possess all the rights and powers of mayor during disability or absence. In case of a vacancy he shall so act until noon of the first Monday of January succeeding the election at which his successor shall be chosen, and at the next general election, which shall take place more than ten days after the occurrence of a vacancy in the office of mayor, a successor shall be chosen, who shall hold for the unexpired term. It shall not be lawful for the president of the council, when acting as mayor in consequence of the sickness or absence from the city of the person elected, to exercise any power of appointment to or removal from office, unless such sickness or absence of the mayor shall have continued ten days; or to sign, approve or disapprove any ordinance or resolution, unless such sickness or absence shall have continued at least nine days. In case of a vacancy in the office of mayor the council may elect a temporary chairman to preside over the meetings, who shall possess, during such vacancy, the powers and perform the duties of the president of the council, and who shall, during such time, be a member of every board of which the president of said council is a member by virtue of his office.

Board of Aldermen, How Constituted; Term of Office.

Sec. 5. The board of aldermen shall consist of five members elected from each of the senatorial districts within the territory of the city of New York as constituted by this act, or as such senatorial districts may hereafter be changed by law, provided, however, that in any case where a fractional part of a senatorial district, is included within the city of New York as constituted by this act, such fractional part of a senatorial district shall only be entitled to elect three members of the board of aldermen until otherwise provided by law. The term of office of each aldermen shall commence on the first Monday of January after his election and shall continue for two years thereafter.

Id,; Quorum.

Sec. 6. A majority of the board of aldermen shall constitute a quorum. Each head of an administrative department of the city shall be entitled to a seat in said board and shall whenever practicable attend the meetings of said board, and shall have the right to participate in its discussions, but shall not have the right to vote.

Id.; How President Elected and Removed.

Sec. 7. The board of aldermen shall, at its first meeting after each aldermanic election, by the affirmative vote of a majority of those present and constituting a quorum, choose a president from its own members, by a call of the names of the members of the board, upon which call each member shall announce his choice, and when once chosen, such president can be removed before the expiration of his term as alderman, when his term as president shall expire, only by a vote taken by a call of ayes and noes, of four-fifths of all the members of the board.

Council and Board of Aldermen; Sergeant-at-Arms; Rules, Journal, Sittings; Expulsion of Members.

Sec. 8. The council and the board of aldermen may each elect a sergeant at arms, and such assistants as are needful to the orderly conduct of their meetings, and shall each determine the rules of its own proceedings; shall each be the judge of the election returns and qualifications of its own members; subject, however, to the review of any court of competent jurisdiction; shall each keep a journal of its proceedings; shall each sit with open doors; and shall each have the authority to compel the attendance of absent members, and to punish its members for disorderly behavior; and to expel any member with the concurrence of two-thirds of the members thereof. Every member so expelled shall thereby forfeit all his rights and powers.

City Clerk: Appointment, Term, Duties; Papers Certified by Him to Be Evidence.

Sec. 9. The council shall, at the first meeting, appoint a clerk, who shall perform such duties as may be prescribed for him. The clerk so appointed shall also be the city clerk, and hold his office for six years, and until his successor shall be appointed and have qualified unless removed for cause. The city clerk shall have charge of all the papers and documents of the city, except such as are by law committed to the keeping of the several departments or of other, officers, and shall keep the record of the proceedings of the municipal assembly. He shall engross all the ordinances of the municipal assembly in a book to be provided for that purpose with proper indices, which book shall be deemed a public record of such ordinances, and each ordinance shall be attested by said clerk. Copies of all papers duly filed in his office, and transcripts thereof, and of the records of proceedings of the municipal assembly, and copies of the laws and ordinances of said city; certified by him under the corporate seal, shall be evidence in all courts and places of the matters therein contained. Said clerk shall appoint a clerk for the board of aldermen, who apart from his service during the meetings of said board of aldermen, shall be in all things subject to his discretion and control.