(2) The summons for sessions are issued by the chairman, who presides over the sessions.

(3) Resolutions shall be passed by majority vote. In case of a tie, the proposal shall be considered defeated.

(4) At the discussion and balloting upon matters touching the special private interests of a single member or of his relations, the member may not be present.

(5) Representatives of the magistrat must be heard in the sessions of the district-board, as often as they desire.

(6) The provisions applicable to members of the magistrat apply to members of the district-board, except as otherwise provided in this act. The disciplinary power over the bürgermeisters is vested in the Oberbürgermeister, over the other members of the district-board and the officials of the district, in the bürgermeister of the district-board.

§ 25.

(1) The district-boards are the administrative boards of the district. They are executive organs of the magistrat and must conduct, in accordance with the principles established by the magistrat, the affairs which the magistrat assign to them. They are subject to the control of the magistrat.

(2) Before acting upon:

1. The budget,

2. The delimitation of administrative powers between the municipal authorities and the district administration,

3. The veto in accordance with § 27 of this act, the magistrat must hear the chairmen of the district-boards in joint session.

(3) The district-boards are responsible for the administration of the municipal services and institutions of their Verwaltungsbezirk, except those administered directly by the magistrat. The district-boards appoint all of their officials, though without prejudice to the right of the magistrat to replace officials for the good of the service; the reasons for such replacements are to be communicated to the district-board concerned. The authority to represent the municipality externally may be granted to the districtboard by local act.

(4) The district-boards have the duty of mediation between the district assemblies and the municipal authorities.

§ 26.

(1) Through concurrent resolution of the district assembly and the district-board, special district deputations may be elected, either from the members of the two district authorities, or from the latter and from the citizens qualified to vote, for the permanent administration or supervision of particular branches of the service as well as for the discharge of temporary duties. To these deputations, which are subordinated to the district-board under all circumstances, the municipal deputies, district deputies, and enfranchised citizens shall be elected by the district assembly; the district bürgermeister shall appoint the members of the districtboard, and shall also choose the chairman from them; by local act the right to represent the municipality externally may be extended to the district deputations.

(2) The district-board has the duty of mediating between the district deputations and the municipal authorities.

§ 27.

The magistrat, in all cases, retains the power to restrain action under resolutions of the district assemblies, the district-boards and the district deputations, if the municipal interest urgently so requires, or if the resolutions of the district authorities exceed their competence, or violate the laws. The resolution whereby the magistrat restrains the carrying out of resolutions of the district assembly shall state the reasons for the veto.

§ 28.

(1) If, under § 27, no agreement is reached, any of the parties concerned may, within two weeks after the day on which the veto was announced, appeal to a board of arbitration, which shall decide definitively.

(2) The board of arbitration shall consist of two members elected by the municipal assembly and two elected by the district assembly, to whom an umpire, elected by them, shall be added as chairman. If no agreement regarding the umpire is reached, he shall be appointed by the Oberpräsident.

(3) In all other respects, the composition of the board of arbitration and its procedure shall be regulated by joint-resolution, subject to the principle that a district affected by the veto must be represented in the board of arbitration at the decision in the case.

§ 29.

(1) A Verwaltungsbezirk may be divided into Ortsbezirke,1 by concurrent resolution of the district assembly and the districtboard, with the approval of the magistrat.

(2) A chairman 2 and a deputy shall be placed in charge of each Ortsbezirk, and shall be elected by the district assembly, for twelve years, if paid, otherwise for four years, subject to confirmation by the district-board. By concurrent resolution of the district assembly and the district-board the chairmen in the more important Ortsbezirke, may be given the official title of Bürgermeister.

(3) The chairmen of the Ortsbezirke are under the supervision of the district-board, and have the duty of obeying its directions, and of assisting it concerning the local affairs of the Ortsbezirk.

(4) In addition to the chairmen of the Ortsbezirk, councillors 3 may be chosen from the enfranchised citizens of the Ortsbezirk, by concurrent resolution of the district assembly and the districtboard, and the approval of the magistrat; the resolution shall also make provision for the constitution and competence of the councillors. When councillors have been constituted, they have a right of nomination in the appointment of the chairmen of the Ortsbezirk. The councillors shall be elected by the enfranchised citizens of the Ortsbezirk according to the principles of proportional election.

(5) By concurrent motion of the district assembly and the district-board of a Verwaltungsbezirk, additional powers, particularly the power to represent the municipality externally, may be extended to the chairmen of the Ortsbezirke by local act.

98. Boroughs in the Greater New York Charter, 1901.

The charter of Greater New York presents a compromise between the municipal federalism of London and Berlin and the municipal centralization which exists in Paris, Chicago, and other large cities. Greater New York was formed by the union of New York, Brooklyn, certain 1 Local districts or precincts. Ortsbezirksvorsteher.

Beiräte.

Further sections of the act provide for the continued existence of various special bodies (e.g., those dealing with police, poor relief, water-supply, and fire). Those dealing with police and poor relief are made coterminous with the City of Berlin.

territory north of New York in Westchester County, certain communities on Long Island north and east of Brooklyn, and Staten Island. The charter of 1897 provided for five boroughs. The island of Manhattan became the Borough of Manhattan, the old city of Brooklyn became the Borough of Brooklyn, the territory north of the Harlem River and south of the new Westchester County line became the Borough of the Bronx, the cities and towns on Long Island outside of Brooklyn became the Borough of Queens, and Staten Island, the Borough of Richmond. Each of these boroughs was permitted to elect a president and, by the charter of 1901, these borough presidents came to be members of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment.1 The sections which follow describe the administrative powers of the borough presidents and the functions of local improvement boards. The borough president has more importance as a representative on the Board of Estimate and Apportionment than as an administrative officer of the borough. The borough functions performed under his direction are, however, of no mean importance. Nearly $20,000,000 were appropriated for them by the budget of 1925. This was, however, only a little more than 7 per cent of the total current expense budget for the Greater city.

SOURCE-Laws of the State of New York, 1901 (Albany, 1901), Chap. 446, as amended by the Laws of 1918, Chap. 617; 1920, Chap. 443; 1921, Chap. 170 and Chap. 670; 1922, Chap. 474.

AN ACT To Amend the Greater New York Charter.

CHAPTER I.

BOUNDARIES, BOROUGHS, POWERS, RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF THE CITY.

Division into Boroughs.

Sec. 2. The City of New York as constituted by this act, is hereby divided into five boroughs to be designated respectively: Manhattan, The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Richmond;

1 Cf. § 29.

CHAPTER IX.

BOROUGH OFFICERS.

TITLE I.

BOROUGH OFFICERS.

President; qualifications, term, election, salary.

Sec. 382. There shall be a president of each borough, who must be a resident thereof at the time of his election and remain a resident thereof throughout his term of office. The president and his successors shall be elected by the electors of the borough at all the elections whereat the mayors of the city of New York are respectively to be elected. The president shall hold his office for a term of four years, commencing on the first day of January next after his election. The salary of the presidents of the boroughs of Manhattan, of the Bronx, of Brooklyn, of Queens and Richmond, respectively, shall be ten thousand dollars a year. A president of a borough may be removed in the same manner as the mayor, as provided in other sections of this act. Any vacancy in the office of president caused by removal from the borough, or otherwise, shall be filled for the unexpired term by an election to such vacancy made by a majority vote of all the members of the board of aldermen then in office representing said borough, and in case of any such vacancy it shall be the duty of the mayor forthwith to call such members in session for such an election and to preside thereat; but he shall not vote unless his vote be necessary to decide the election.

...

President of borough; powers and duties.

Sec. 383.2 The president of a borough shall, by virtue of his office, be a member of the local board of every district of local improvements in his borough, and chairman thereof, entitled to preside at its meetings and to vote as any other member. He shall have an office in such hall or public building of the borough as the board of aldermen may by resolution direct. He may appoint and at pleasure remove a commissioner of public works for his borough, who may discharge all the administrative powers of the

As amended by Laws of 1920, Chap. 443. 'As amended by Laws of 1921, Chap. 170.