By Carol Tannenhauser

Applications for membership on Community Board 7 are now open through 5 pm on March 17, 2023.

Community boards allow people to participate in government at the most grassroots level, serving as monitors and allies of city officials and agencies, and advocates for community residents.

Each year it is the Manhattan borough president’s responsibility to appoint 300 members to the borough’s 12 community boards to serve two-year terms. The position is voluntary and unpaid. Full-board meetings are held monthly, but committees meet more often. Levine sent an email on Thursday describing some of the criteria for board membership: “[Applicants] must live, work, or have an otherwise significant interest in the neighborhoods served by the community district, and be a New York City resident,” he wrote. “In addition, we look for applicants with histories of community involvement, expertise, skill sets, and attendance at Board meetings and who can commit to a two-year term.”

Levine emphasized that one of his top priorities this year is diversity, “I’m committed to ensuring that our boards lift up the lived experience and concerns of Manhattanites who have long been underrepresented and whose voices have not been adequately heard.”

You can find the application to the community board here.

Go for it.