New York City's 42nd City Council district is one of 51 districts in the New York City Council. It has been represented by Democrat Chris Banks since 2024, succeeding Charles Barron who lost in the Democratic Primary.
District 42 is based in the easternmost neighborhoods of Brooklyn, covering most of East New York (including its New Lots, Spring Creek, and Starrett City subsections) and part of East Flatbush. Shirley Chisholm State Park is also located within the district, as are many of Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge's western islands.
The district overlaps with Brooklyn Community Boards 5, 16, 17, and 18, and with New York's 8th and 9th congressional districts. It also overlaps with the 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st districts of the New York State Senate, and with the 54th, 55th, 58th, and 60th districts of the New York State Assembly.
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.