New York Gazetteer
There are 1,023 county subdivisions in New York known as minor civil divisions (MCDs). There are 932 towns with functioning, but not necessarily active governmental units. East Rochester, Mount Kisco, and Scarsdale towns are coextensive with a single incorporated place and have joint MCD/place governments. Green Island and Harrison towns are coextensive with a single incorporated place and have separate active township governments. Each town is governed by a town supervisor or town manager and a town council or town board.
The five boroughs that comprise New York city (one borough in each of the five counties) are not considered to be functioning governmental units. There are 61 cities in New York that are independent of MCDs and serve as 62 county subdivisions. There are 14 county subdivisions comprised of American Indian reservations. American Indian areas have a special legal status regarding their relationship to state and county government and are treated by the Census Bureau as county subdivision equivalents for the portion of the reservation within each county.
Minor civil divisions are legally incorporated municipal corporations within the state. They provide a range of services to their residents and are empowered to tax property within their boundaries to raise revenue. Villages in New York are places dependent within towns and are not treated as minor civil divisions, with the exception of the five town-village governments.
In addition, there are 10 undefined MCDs that consist entirely of water.
Subdivisions that are also Incorporated Places have an asterisk(*) and the link takes you to the Community Profile for the Incorporated Place.
