New York CIty Council Member Ben Kallos

Community

As a&nbsp;<a href="/about/biography"><strong>third generation Upper East Sider</strong></a>, I am committed to maintaining our neighborhood's quality of life. I will support and work with our community centers such as cultural and religious institutions as well as neighborhood associations to ensure our neighborhood remains safe, clean and a wonderful place to live.

Gothamist 16-Year-Olds May Be Allowed To Serve As Community Board Members by John Surico

16-Year-Olds May Be Allowed To Serve As Community Board Members
John Surico

Last week, a bill was introduced to the New York City Council that would lower the required minimum age for Community Board members from 18 to 16.

By doing so, the bill's creator, the newly elected Councilman Ben Kallos, hopes to offset the low percentage of Millennials involved with their Community Boards: in Manhattan, only 6 percent of this year's applicants were between the ages of 18 and 24. Kallos believes it'll be a real-life civics lesson, providing exciting insight to unexciting meetings.

DNAinfo.com Let 16-Year-Olds Serve on Community Boards, Politicians Say by Lindsay Armstrong

Let 16-Year-Olds Serve on Community Boards, Politicians Say
Lindsay Armstrong

UPPER EAST SIDE — The City Council is considering a resolution that would bring civics lessons out of the classroom and into real life for New York City teens.

Councilman Ben Kallos introduced a resolution last week in support of a state bill that would lower the age requirement for serving on neighborhood community boards. Currently, a person must be 18 to become a community board member. The bill, which is backed by Assemblywoman Nily Rozic and state Sen. Andrew Lanza, would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to serve.