Learning Outcomes for this Module

• LO2: Critically assess information sources in pursuit of various purposes.
• LO3: Ask thoughtful questions. 
• LO6: Reflect upon your own research process.

Tools

What You’ll Need	What We Used
Forum for posting information and reflections (3 total)	Padlet

How to Credit Us

Except where otherwise noted, the lesson plans on this site are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license. 

This module is an adaptation of one originally created by our colleagues at Hunter College Gina Levitan and Samantha Slattery.

To credit us for this version of the module, cite the following: 

Levitan, G., Newman, J., Slattery, S.Ward, S.K.L. (2025, June 11). Civic engagement & government data module. LIBR 100 OER. https://lib100oer.commons.gc.cuny.edu/2025/06/11/civic-engagement-government-data/ 

Module Introduction

In this module, we are taking a departure from academic resources and turning our attention to where information literacy and civic engagement intersect in New York City. We’re going to be spending time exploring a few different tools that the city has to offer to help inform folks on city government, issues facing our communities, and ways you can get involved.

The Wikipedia entry for “civic engagement” states that:

“Civic engagement or civic participation is any individual or group activity addressing issues of public concern.^[1]Civic engagement includes communities working together or individuals working alone in both political and non-political actions to protect public values or make a change in a community. The goal of civic engagement is to address public concerns and promote the quality of the community.”Wikipedia contributors. (2024, March 10). Civic engagement. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 19:58, March 28, 2024, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Civic_engagement&oldid=1212981790

What does it mean to be “civically engaged”? What does that look like for you? How can you connect your ideas or those of your community/ neighborhood to the resources available? How do you know where to look? What can you find?  

This unit on civic engagement will focus on highlighting different resources and services that are available in New York City that connect to some of the larger themes of information literacy that we’ve discussed so far in this course. In this module you will: 

1. Learn more about civic engagement in New York City
2. Find out more information about your City Council representative, district, and Community Board (Padlet – 3 pts)
3. Explore the Community District Profile to learn more about how data is used to inform you about issues facing your neighborhood (Padlet – 5pts)
4. Reflection Padlet (2 points)
5. Bonus information! list of URLs/resources for more information, other ways to get involved (participatory budgeting, voting information, 3 library systems, city services, etc.)

Part 1: Civic Engagement in NYC

To start, it’s important to familiarize ourselves with how city government more or less works:

The main components of New York City Government include the Office of the Mayor, the Public Advocate, the City Comptroller, the City Council, the Borough President(s), and Community Boards. There are also dozens of city agencies as well, but in this module you are going to explore two aspects of the City Council and the Community Boards/Community Districts. Essentially, the people of the City of New York are the basis for who gets to make what decisions at all levels of city government.

New York City also has it’s own Civic Engagement Commission, which was founded in 2018 as part of three ballot initiatives in the 2018 Charter Revisions. The Commission is charged to:

• Run a citywide participatory budgeting program with guidance from a participatory budgeting advisory committee;
• Partner with community-based organizations and civic leaders, increase awareness of City services, and assist New York City agencies in developing civic engagement initiatives;
• Develop a plan to consider the language access needs of limited English proficient New Yorkers with regards to the Commission’s programs and services and provide language interpreters at poll sites by the 2020 general election, with advice from a language assistance advisory committee; and
• Provide assistance to community boards. 

This is a very short and general overview of what civic engagement can look like in NYC, so please note that there are many different ways to get involved and lots of resources to explore. The following sections of this module are focused on connecting you to information about your city council district, your community district, and participatory budgeting.

Part 2: Who’s your rep? What’s your district? (Padlet – 3 points)

Using source linked on the Padlet below, we want you to find information about your neighborhood, or another neighborhood you know well, and answer the following:

1. What is your City Council District?
2. Who is your City Council representative?
3. What is one of your City Council representative’s special projects in the city?
4. Which Community Board represents your neighborhood?

Link to Part 2 Padlet

Part 3: Community District Profiles: Explore the Data (Padlet – 5 points)

Go to the Community District Profiles and find your community district, or the district for another neighborhood you know well – you can use the map feature, or the search bar)  Using the information provided about your community district, answer the following questions on the Padlet below:

1. What is your Community District? 
2. What are the top three Community District needs? (This is listed at the bottom of the profile) 
3. Select one indicator (i.e. Mean Commute to Work, Street Cleanliness etc. – whichever one is most interesting to you) and tell us when (when was the information collected) and how (i.e. what survey or tool was used) that data was collected (hint: click in information icon next to the indicator title to learn more). 
4. Given what you know about this neighborhood, do you think the top three needs listed here accurately represent the community’s needs?

Link to Part 3 Padlet

Part 4: Reflection Padlet (2 points)

In the Padlet below, we would like you to reflect on the work you’ve done in this module. In this Padlet, we would like you to answer:

1. What are two things that you learned in this module?
2. What questions do you have? What else would you want to know?

Link to Part 4 Padlet

Bonus information

There is so much more we could share with you about civic engagement in NYC! But this module already has multiple Padlets and lots of information. If you are interested, here are a few more things to know:

• Participatory Budgeting – you decide how to spend some of the city’s money! Citywide voting on projects will open up later this spring.
  • “The People’s Money is New York City’s annual citywide Participatory Budgeting (PB) initiative where community members decide how to spend part of the city’s budget. Every year New Yorkers vote to decide what projects to implement in their communities.”
• Public Libraries – New York City has 3 massive public library systems, and getting your library card at these libraries is totally free: New York Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library, Queens Public Library
  • Public Libraries have branches in most neighborhoods in NYC, with programming and collections that reflect the needs of those communities.
  • Find your local branch library and see what you can do (at no extra cost to you) at your library. Some examples: Career Services at NYPL, TechConnect (Free classes from NYPL), Queens Memory Project, BPL Presents, Culture Pass
• NYC Open Data – open data for all New Yorkers
• Voter information
  • If you are eligible to vote in NYC, you may find the registration deadlines here: https://elections.ny.gov/registration-and-voting-deadlines  
  • If you haven’t registered to vote yet, need to check the status of your voter registration, or want to learn more about voting in general you can check the New York City Board of Elections: https://www.vote.nyc/page/register-vote  
  • Find out what’s on the ballot for any upcoming Primary or General Elections: https://www.nycvotes.org/whats-on-the-ballot/

Adapted with permission from Samantha Slattery & Gina Levitan