New York City's 24th City Council district is one of 51 districts in the New York City Council. It has been represented by DemocratJames F. Gennaro since a 2021 special election to replace fellow Democrat Rory Lancman; Gennaro previously held the seat from 2002 until 2013.[3]
Due to redistricting and the 2020 changes to the New York City Charter, councilmembers elected during the 2021 and 2023 City Council elections will serve two-year terms, with full four-year terms resuming after the 2025 New York City Council elections.[6]
In 2019, voters in New York City approved Ballot Question 1, which implemented ranked-choice voting in all local elections. Under the new system, voters have the option to rank up to five candidates for every local office. Voters whose first-choice candidates fare poorly will have their votes redistributed to other candidates in their ranking until one candidate surpasses the 50 percent threshold. If one candidate surpasses 50 percent in first-choice votes, then ranked-choice tabulations will not occur.[10]
In November 2020, Councilman Rory Lancman took a position in the administration of Governor Andrew Cuomo, triggering a special election for his seat in February 2021. Like most municipal special elections in New York City, the race was officially nonpartisan, with all candidates running on ballot lines of their own creation. The election was technically the first in the city's history to utilize ranked-choice voting, but because Gennaro won with a majority in the first round, ranked votes were not counted.
2021 New York City Council special election, District 24[14]