New York City's 3rd City Council district is one of 51 districts in the New York City Council. It has been vacant following Erik Bottcher's resignation and election to the New York State Senate on February 3, 2026, and pending a special election to be held on April 28. Notable former representatives include Council Speakers Corey Johnson and Christine Quinn.
District 3 covers the Lower Manhattan neighborhoods of Chelsea, the West Village, Hell's Kitchen, Hudson Square, the Garment District, Flatiron, and parts of Greenwich Village, and Times Square.
Chelsea and West Village, two of the district's main population centers, are both known as preeminent hubs for gay culture. Accordingly, the district has been represented by four consecutive gay councilmembers since 1992. The Stonewall Inn, considered to be the birthplace of gay rights in the United States, is located within the district.
The district overlaps with Manhattan Community Boards 2, 4 and 5, and with New York's 10th and 12th congressional districts. It also overlaps with the 27th, 28th and 47th districts of the New York State Senate, and with the 66th, 67th, 74th and 75th districts of the New York State Assembly.
District 3 covered the Lower Manhattan neighborhoods of Chelsea, the West Village, Hell's Kitchen, Hudson Square, the Garment District, Flatiron, and parts of Greenwich Village, Times Square, and the Upper West Side.
The district overlapped with Manhattan Community Boards 2, 4, 5, and 7, and with New York's 10th and 12th congressional districts. It also overlapped with the 26th, 27th, 28th and 31st districts of the New York State Senate, and with the 66th, 67th, and 75th districts of the New York State Assembly.
Then-incumbent Erik Bottcher resigned on February 3, 2026 to serve in the New York State Senate. Two special elections were called: one to fill the seat for the remainder of 2026, and a standard partisan primary and general election to serve the remainder of Bottcher's term. Like all municipal special elections in New York City, the race is officially nonpartisan, with all candidates running on ballot lines of their own creation. Following Ballot Question 1's approval in 2019, special elections will also utilize ranked-choice voting.
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.
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.