| New York City's 17th City Council district | |
| Leader Title: | Councilmember |
| Leader Name: | Rafael Salamanca (D—Longwood) |
| Population As Of: | 2010 |
| Population Total: | 180064 |
| Population Footnotes: | [1] |
| Footnotes: | Registered voters (2021) 102,440[2] |
| Demographics Type1: | Demographics |
| Demographics1 Info1: | 69% |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Hispanic |
| Demographics1 Info2: | 27% |
| Demographics1 Title2: | Black |
| Demographics1 Info3: | 2% |
| Demographics1 Title3: | White |
| Demographics1 Info4: | 1% |
| Demographics1 Title4: | Asian |
| Demographics1 Info5: | 1% |
| Demographics1 Title5: | Other |
| Demographics Type2: | Registration |
| Demographics2 Info1: | 77.5% |
| Demographics2 Title1: | Democratic |
| Demographics2 Info2: | 4.0% |
| Demographics2 Title2: | Republican |
| Demographics2 Info3: | 15.8% |
| Demographics2 Title3: | No party preference |
New York City's 17th City Council district is one of 51 districts in the New York City Council. It has been represented by Democrat Rafael Salamanca since a 2016 special election to succeed fellow Democrat Maria del Carmen Arroyo.[3]
District 17 covers a series of neighborhoods at the heart of the South Bronx, including some or all of Crotona Park East, Melrose, Hunts Point, Concourse, East Tremont, Morrisania, Longwood, Port Morris, and West Farms.[4] Crotona Park, North and South Brother Islands, and The Hub are all located within the district.
The district overlaps with Bronx Community Boards 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 9, and is contained entirely within New York's 15th congressional district. It also overlaps with the 29th, 32nd, 33rd, and 34th districts of the New York State Senate, and with the 77th, 79th, 84th, 85th, 86th, and 87th districts of the New York State Assembly.[5]
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.[7]
In late 2015, Councilwoman Maria del Carmen Arroyo announced she would resign, triggering a February 2016 special election for her seat. 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.