When New Yorkers fill out a ballot, the race at the top — mayor — gets most of the attention. But three other citywide and boroughwide offices sit on the same ballot and shape city government in ways that touch daily life: the Comptroller, the Public Advocate, and the five Borough Presidents. Each has a distinct job defined by the New York City Charter, and each will appear before voters in the 2026 election cycle. With the city’s next Primary Election set for Tuesday, June 23, 2026 (early voting runs June 13–21), this guide explains what each office actually does — neutrally, factually, and without reference to any candidate or party.
Think of this as the resident’s manual to the offices below the mayor: who watches the money, who fields your complaints about city agencies, and who steers borough-level land use and capital spending.
The Comptroller: the city’s chief financial watchdog
The New York City Comptroller is the city’s Chief Financial Officer and is independently elected by all city voters — separately from the mayor. The role is built around financial oversight and accountability, and the office’s official duties are spelled out by the Office of the Comptroller.
According to that office, the Comptroller’s responsibilities include:
- Auditing every city agency. As the city’s chief auditor, the Comptroller is required to audit every city agency at least once every four years, conducting both performance and financial audits.
- Managing the city’s pension funds. The Comptroller serves as investment advisor to, and custodian of, the assets of the city’s five public pension funds, which provide retirement security for more than 700,000 current and former city employees.
- Overseeing the city budget. The Comptroller scrutinizes the mayor’s budget, examines the soundness of its fiscal and economic assumptions, and advises on developments that could affect the city’s fiscal outlook. The office also prepares the city’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report.
- Reviewing city contracts. The office reviews all city contracts for integrity, accountability, and fiscal compliance — checking that the city can pay its bills and that the award process was not tainted by corruption.
- Resolving claims. The Comptroller may settle claims for or against the city, including claims raised before a lawsuit is filed.
- Issuing city bonds. Along with the Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget, the Comptroller issues and sells the bonds that fund the city’s capital needs, and monitors the city’s credit rating and debt levels.
- Setting and enforcing prevailing wage. Under state law, the Comptroller sets and enforces prevailing wage and benefit rates for certain workers on city public works projects and on some city-contracted properties.
In short, the Comptroller is the office that independently checks the city’s books, guards public-employee retirement money, and flags fiscal risk before it becomes a crisis. The Comptroller does not set the budget — that authority rests with the mayor and the City Council — but the office serves as a constant, independent audit on how public money is raised, invested, and spent.
The Public Advocate: the city’s ombudsman and watchdog for residents
The Public Advocate is also elected citywide, and — along with the Mayor and the Comptroller — is one of only three municipal offices chosen by all the city’s voters. The duties of the office are described by the Office of the Public Advocate and are laid out in Section 24 of the City Charter.
The office functions primarily as an ombudsman for city government. Its core duties include:
- Investigating complaints. The Public Advocate investigates residents’ complaints about city services, provides oversight of city agencies, and proposes ways to address shortcomings or failures in those services.
- Introducing legislation. The Public Advocate is a non-voting member of the New York City Council with the right to introduce and co-sponsor legislation. (Before a 2002 charter revision, the office was the Council’s presiding officer; that changed with the charter update.)
- Serving on boards and committees. The Public Advocate sits on the committee that selects the director of the New York City Independent Budget Office, appoints members to several boards and commissions — including one member of the City Planning Commission — and chairs the Commission on Public Information and Communication, established under Section 1061 of the Charter.
- Standing first in line of mayoral succession. In the event of a vacancy or incapacity in the mayor’s office, the Public Advocate is first in line to become mayor.
The practical role most residents encounter is the complaint-and-oversight function: if a city agency is failing to deliver a service, the Public Advocate’s office is a place to escalate the problem and push for systemic fixes. Because the office holds no agency budgets of its own and casts no vote in the Council, much of its power is built on investigation, public reporting, and the ability to propose legislation and rally attention.
Borough Presidents: borough-level land use, capital dollars, and community boards
New York City has five Borough Presidents — one each for the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. Unlike the Comptroller and Public Advocate, who are elected citywide, each Borough President is elected only by the voters of their own borough. The office’s authority centers on borough-level planning, budgeting, and the community board system, as described by the city’s Mayor’s Community Affairs Unit.
A Borough President’s responsibilities include:
- Appointing community board members. The Borough President appoints the members of the borough’s community boards to two-year terms, and administers training for those members. There are 59 community boards across the city, each with up to 50 unsalaried members.
- Reviewing land use applications. The Borough President reviews and makes recommendations on applications in the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP), the formal process for major land use and zoning changes.
- Maintaining planning and budget offices. The office runs borough planning and budget operations that provide technical assistance to community boards and weigh in on development proposals.
- Allocating capital funding. Borough Presidents allocate capital funding for long-term physical investments — libraries, parks, affordable housing, community centers, hospitals, cultural institutions, and similar projects — within their borough. The Manhattan Borough President’s office notes that this funding supports infrastructure across the borough and is governed by the city’s Office of Management and Budget rules.
- Chairing the Borough Board and Borough Service Cabinet. The Borough President serves as chairperson of the Borough Board (made up of the Borough President, the borough’s Council members, and the chairs of its community boards) and the Borough Service Cabinet, which coordinates city service delivery within the borough.
It is worth noting what these offices are not: community boards and Borough Presidents have a strong advisory and recommending role in land use, but the final say on most land use decisions rests with the City Planning Commission and the City Council. The Borough President’s influence comes through formal recommendations, capital allocations, appointments, and convening power rather than direct command over city agencies.
How the three offices fit together
Read together, these offices form a layer of checks and local representation around the mayor and City Council. The Comptroller independently audits the money. The Public Advocate fields resident complaints and watches the agencies. The Borough Presidents bring borough-specific priorities into the city’s land use and capital-spending processes. None of the three runs a city agency the way the mayor does, and none controls the city budget outright — but each provides oversight, advocacy, or local input that the executive branch does not.
All of these offices appear on city ballots, and New York City uses ranked-choice voting in primary and special elections for citywide and boroughwide offices, including these. If you are voting in a primary, you may be asked to rank your choices rather than pick just one. For a full explanation of how that works, see our guide on ranked-choice voting in NYC.
Frequently asked questions
What does the New York City Comptroller do?
The Comptroller is the city’s Chief Financial Officer. The office audits every city agency at least once every four years, serves as fiduciary for the city’s five public pension funds, oversees the city budget and fiscal condition, reviews all city contracts, resolves claims for and against the city, and issues city bonds. The Comptroller is elected independently of the mayor.
What is the role of the NYC Public Advocate?
The Public Advocate is a citywide elected ombudsman for city government. The office investigates complaints about city services, provides oversight of city agencies, and can introduce and co-sponsor legislation as a non-voting member of the City Council. The Public Advocate is also first in line to succeed the mayor in the event of a vacancy or incapacity.
What does a Borough President do in New York City?
Each of the five Borough Presidents handles borough-level governance: appointing community board members, reviewing and recommending on land use (ULURP) applications, running borough planning and budget offices, allocating capital funding for projects within the borough, and chairing the Borough Board and Borough Service Cabinet. Borough Presidents are elected only by voters in their own borough.
Are these offices on the 2026 ballot?
Yes. The Comptroller, Public Advocate, and Borough Presidents are among the city offices that appear in the 2026 election cycle. The next NYC Primary Election is Tuesday, June 23, 2026, with early voting from June 13 through June 21. Check your specific ballot and confirm dates at vote.nyc.
Do these offices use ranked-choice voting?
New York City uses ranked-choice voting in primary and special elections for citywide and boroughwide offices, which includes Comptroller, Public Advocate, and Borough President. In a ranked-choice primary, you may rank multiple candidates in order of preference rather than choosing only one.
Which of these officials can become mayor if the mayor leaves office?
The Public Advocate is first in line to become mayor in the event of a vacancy or incapacity in the office of mayor, as described by the Office of the Public Advocate.
Verify before you vote
Office duties are defined by the New York City Charter, and the descriptions above are drawn from official city sources: the Office of the Comptroller, the Office of the Public Advocate, and the city’s Community Affairs Unit. Election dates, ballot contents, and your specific races can change, so always confirm the current details at the NYC Board of Elections before heading to the polls. To find your poll site, early voting location, and mail-ballot deadlines for the June 23 primary, see our companion guide on where to vote in NYC.
