NYCuriosity Data ← NYC Council Legislation Trackers

Powers Tracker

Views in this tool: Powers overview Powers Table Agency Powers Law Explorer Methodology
Powers Tracker September 2026

What New York City local laws allow agencies to do

Local laws also give agencies authority to use when they choose: to write rules, inspect, charge fees, or impose penalties. This tracker lists every power in local laws enacted since 2014, apart from the duties in the Obligations Tracker. The methodology explains how each record is sorted.

1,735 Powers recorded
706 Laws that grant them
79 Agencies that hold them
569 Powers to write rules, the most common kind

Department of Buildings holds 272 of the 1,735 powers, more than any other agency

Powers by holding agency, top 12.

DOB
272
DCWP
201
HPD
181
Mayor's Office
177
DOHMH
124
DOT
93
DOF
64
DEP
58
DSNY
41
FDNY
39
Source: NYC Legistar enacted local laws, 2014 to present; NYCuriosity Powers Tracker

Rulemaking is the most common power laws grant: 569 of 1,735

Powers by type.

rulemaking
569
other
527
enforcement or inspection
371
designation or staffing
81
program or service
45
notice or posting
20
database or data publication
19
plan or strategy
19
monitoring or testing
17
outreach or education
17
Source: NYC Legistar enacted local laws, 2014 to present; NYCuriosity Powers Tracker

2017 laws granted the most powers: 280

Powers granted per year, by law enactment date.

54
'14
110
'15
142
'16
280
'17
127
'18
200
'19
90
'20
216
'21
81
'22
65
'23
136
'24
78
'25
155
'26
Grouped by the year in which each law was enacted. Source: NYC Legistar enacted local laws, 2014 to present; NYCuriosity Powers Tracker

Pierina Ana Sanchez wrote the laws behind 139 powers, more than any other council member

Powers by the prime sponsor of the law that grants them, top 10.

Pierina Ana Sanchez
139
Brad S. Lander
74
Costa G. Constantinides
70
Corey D. Johnson
66
Ben Kallos
60
Melissa Mark-Viverito
54
Ydanis A. Rodriguez
52
Jumaane D. Williams
52
Adrienne E. Adams
45
Robert E. Cornegy, Jr.
45
Source: NYC Legistar enacted local laws, 2014 to present; NYCuriosity Powers Tracker

Source: Author's analysis of enacted local law text from NYC Legistar. Agency names normalized with the NYC Agencies and Governance Organizations dataset.