| New York City's 38th City Council district | |
| Leader Title: | Councilmember |
| Leader Name: | Alexa Avilés D–Sunset Park |
| Population As Of: | 2010 |
| Population Total: | 157,282 |
| Population Footnotes: | [1] |
| Footnotes: | Registered voters (2021) 82,999[2] |
| Demographics Type1: | Demographics |
| Demographics1 Info1: | 44% |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Hispanic |
| Demographics1 Info2: | 33% |
| Demographics1 Title2: | Asian |
| Demographics1 Info3: | 17% |
| Demographics1 Title3: | White |
| Demographics1 Info4: | 5% |
| Demographics1 Title4: | Black |
| Demographics1 Info5: | 2% |
| Demographics1 Title5: | Other |
| Demographics Type2: | Registration |
| Demographics2 Info1: | 64.0% |
| Demographics2 Title1: | Democratic |
| Demographics2 Info2: | 8.1% |
| Demographics2 Title2: | Republican |
| Demographics2 Info3: | 25.3% |
| Demographics2 Title3: | No party preference |
New York City's 38th City Council district is one of 51 districts in the New York City Council. It is currently represented by Democrat Alexa Avilés, who assumed office in 2022.[3]
District 38 is based largely in Sunset Park along Brooklyn's western shoreline, also covering Red Hook, Greenwood Heights, and small parts of Windsor Terrace, Dyker Heights, and Borough Park.[4] Green-Wood Cemetery and Sunset Park proper are also located within the district.
The district overlaps with Brooklyn Community Boards 6, 7, 10, 11, and 12, and with New York's 7th, 9th, and 10th congressional districts. It also overlaps with the 17th, 20th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd, and 25th districts of the New York State Senate, and with the 44th, 48th, 49th, 51st, and 52nd districts of the New York State Assembly.[5]
| Members | Party | Years served | Electoral history | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District established January 1, 1992 | |||||
Joan G. McCabe | Democratic | January 1, 1992 – December 31, 1997 | Elected in 1991. Re-elected in 1993. Retired. | ||
Angel Rodriguez | Democratic | January 1, 1998 – August 28, 2002 | Elected in 1997. Re-elected in 2001. Resigned due to corruption charges. | ||
| Vacant | August 28, 2002 – November 6, 2002 | ||||
Sara M. Gonzalez | Democratic | November 6, 2002 – December 31, 2013 | Elected to finish Rodriguez's term. Re-elected in 2003. Re-elected in 2005. Re-elected in 2009. Lost renomination. | ||
Carlos Menchaca | Democratic | January 1, 2014 – December 31, 2021 | Elected in 2013. Re-elected in 2017. Retired to run for Mayor of New York. | ||
Alexa Avilés | Democratic | January 1, 2022 – | Elected in 2021. Re-elected in 2023. | ||
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]