The Bronx

===Local government===
{{Main|Government of New York City}}
Since New York City's consolidation in 1898, the New York City Charter that provides for a "strong" [[Mayor–council government|mayor–council system]] has governed the Bronx. The centralized New York City government is responsible for public education, correctional institutions, libraries, public safety, recreational facilities, sanitation, water supply, and welfare services in the Bronx.
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; margin-left:1em;"
|-
! colspan="3" style="background:violet; " | Borough Presidents of the Bronx
|-
! Name !! Party !! Term †
|- style="background:#def;"
| [[Louis F. Haffen]] ||[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]||1898 – Aug. 1909
|- style="background:#def;"
| [[John F. Murray (politician)|John F. Murray]] ||[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]||Aug. 1909–1910
|- style="background:#def;"
| [[Cyrus C. Miller]] ||[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]||1910–1914
|- style="background:#ffe2e2;"
| |[[Douglas Mathewson]]||[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]-<br />Fusion||1914–1918
|- style="background:#def;"
| [[Henry Bruckner]] ||[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]||1918–1934
|- style="background:#def;"
| [[James J. Lyons]] ||[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]||1934–1962
|- style="background:#ffe2e2;"
| [[Joseph F. Periconi]] ||[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]-<br />[[Liberal Party of New York|Liberal]]||1962–1966
|- style="background:#def;"
| [[Herman Badillo]]||[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]|| 1966–1970
|- style="background:#def;"
| [[Robert Abrams]]||[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]|| 1970–1979
|- style="background:#def;"
| [[Stanley Simon]]||[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]||1979 – April 1987
|- style="background:#def;"
| [[Fernando Ferrer]]||[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]||April 1987 – 2002
|- style="background:#def;"
| [[Adolfo Carrión, Jr.]]||[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]||2002 – March 2009
|- style="background:#def;"
| [[Rubén Díaz, Jr.]]||[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]||May 2009 – 2021
|- style="background:#def;"
| [[Vanessa Gibson]]||[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]||2022 –&nbsp;
|-
| colspan="3" style="text-align:center;" |† Terms begin and end in January<br />where the month is not specified.
|}
The office of [[Borough President]] was created in the consolidation of 1898 to balance centralization with local authority. Each borough president had a powerful administrative role derived from having a vote on the [[New York City Board of Estimate]], which was responsible for creating and approving the city's budget and proposals for land use. In 1989 the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] declared the Board of Estimate unconstitutional on the grounds that [[Brooklyn]], the most populous borough, had no greater effective representation on the Board than [[Staten Island]], the least populous borough, a violation of the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourteenth Amendment's]] [[Equal Protection Clause]] pursuant to the high court's 1964 "one man, one vote" decision.<ref name="law.cornell.edu">[https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0489_0688_ZS.html Cornell Law School Supreme Court Collection: Board of Estimate of City of New York v. Morris], accessed June 12, 2006</ref>

Since 1990 the Borough President has acted as an advocate for the borough at the mayoral agencies, the [[New York City Council|City Council]], the New York state government, and corporations.

Until March 1, 2009, the Borough President of the Bronx was [[Adolfo Carrión Jr.]], elected as a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] in 2001 and 2005 before retiring early to direct the [[White House Office of Urban Affairs Policy]]. His successor, Democratic [[New York State Assembly]] member [[Rubén Díaz Jr.|Rubén Díaz, Jr.]] — after winning a special election on April 21, 2009, by a vote of 86.3% (29,420) on the "Bronx Unity" line to 13.3% (4,646) for the Republican district leader Anthony Ribustello on the "People First" line,<ref name="nytimes.com">Trymaine Lee, [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/22/nyregion/22bronx.html "Bronx Voters Elect Díaz as New Borough President"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', New York edition, April 22, 2009, page A24, retrieved on May 13, 2009</ref><ref name="vote.nyc.ny.us">The Board of Elections in the City of New York, [http://www.vote.nyc.ny.us/pdf/results/2009/BronxBoroPresident_4_21_09/BronxBoroPresident-Recap.pdf Bronx Borough President special election results, April 21, 2009] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725025650/http://www.vote.nyc.ny.us/pdf/results/2009/BronxBoroPresident_4_21_09/BronxBoroPresident-Recap.pdf |date=July 25, 2011 }} ([[PDF]] with details by Assembly District, April 29, 2009), retrieved on May 13, 2009</ref> — became Borough President on May 1, 2009. In 2021, Rubén Díaz's Democratic successor, [[Vanessa Gibson]] was elected (to begin serving in 2022) with 79.9% of the vote against 13.4% for Janell King (Republican) and 6.5% for Sammy Ravelo (Conservative).

All of the Bronx's currently elected public officials have first won the nomination of the [[Democratic Party (U.S.)|Democratic Party]] (in addition to any other endorsements). Local party platforms center on affordable housing, education and economic development. Controversial political issues in the Bronx include environmental issues, the cost of housing, and annexation of parkland for new [[Yankee Stadium]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Calder |first=Rich |date=May 8, 2017 |title="City backtracks on promise to replace Yankee Stadium parkland" |work=New York Post |url=https://nypost.com/2017/05/08/city-backtracks-on-promise-to-build-affordable-housing-units/ |access-date=March 3, 2023}}</ref>

Since its separation from [[New York County]] on January 1, 1914, the Bronx, has had, like each of the other 61 counties of New York State, its own criminal court system<ref name="courtstart" /> and [[District attorney|District Attorney]], the chief public prosecutor who is directly elected by popular vote. [[Darcel D. Clark]] has been the [[Bronx County District Attorney]] since 2016. Her predecessor was [[Robert T. Johnson (lawyer)|Robert T. Johnson]], the District Attorney from 1989 to 2015. He was the first African-American District Attorney in New York State.<ref>Mueller, Benjamin. [https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/19/nyregion/robert-johnson-bronx-district-attorney-says-he-wants-to-become-a-state-judge.html "Robert Johnson, Bronx District Attorney, Says He Wants to Become a State Judge"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', September 18, 2015. Accessed May 14, 2021. "With the backing of Democratic leaders, Mr. Johnson won a contested election in 1988 to become the first black district attorney in the state."</ref>

The Bronx also has twelve [[Community boards of the Bronx|Community Boards]], appointed bodies that advise on land use and municipal facilities and services for local residents, businesses and institutions.