Last month, for the first time in two and a half years, Governor Kathy Hochul decided not to renew the state’s COVID-19 State of Emergency. The decision rolled back some of her emergency powers — and brought to an end the era of all-virtual community board meetings.
Most of the city’s 59 community boards had been meeting via Zoom or WebEx since March 2020, when then-governor Andrew Cuomo first declared a state of emergency in New York State. The quasi-governmental advisory bodies meet regularly for ten months out of the year to discuss and issue their recommendations on everything from liquor licenses to large-scale rezonings, and are often the first point of contact for local constituents.
