checks and balances

The state and city of New York are quite similar to others around the country, in that there is a Legislative, Judicial and Executive branch. First, the Legislative branch is the lawmaking area of the state. It consists of the 150 members in the Assembly, and presently 62 in the Senate. All of whom were elected throughout the state. In the state of New York the Senate and the Assembly (Legislative body) have powers that are exclusively reserved for them. Such as, they can approve a law, even though the Governor vetoed it. This, however, needs the support of two-thirds of the membership. Second, the Judicial Branch is basically the Unified Court System. The Judicial Branch serves as the enforcement body for the bills that are approved by the Legislature and signed into law by the Governor. Third, the Executive Branch is headed by the Governor.

The City of New York also consists of the above three branches. I thought that the Executive branch only consisted of the Mayor. However, I was quite surprised to learn that the Borough Presidents, the Public Advocate and the Comptroller are all included. The Legislature is comprised of the City Council headed by Christine Quinn. In NYC the Judicial branch is controlled by the New York State Court System.