June 15, 2000 | Read Time: 1 minute
Residents of New York City now have a quick and easy way to find out who their representatives are at all levels of government and how to contact them.
When visitors to the Who Represents Me? Web site enter their street addresses and zip codes, the site returns a list of the public officials who represent them on the New York City Council, in the state legislature, and in Congress. The list provides contact information, including e-mail addresses, and maps that show each representative’s district, as well as information about officials in the executive branches of government.
The Web site was developed by the New York Public Interest Research Group’s Community Mapping Assistance Project, or CMAP. The project uses computer-mapping software to turn complicated sets of data into maps that non-profit groups can use in their advocacy and education efforts.
CMAP can also customize the Who Represents Me? service for other non-profit organizations to use on their own Web sites, for a fee. For example, a conservation organization could use the technology to show visitors to its Web site exactly which legislators they need to contact to express their opinions on a pressing environmental issue.
Chris Meyer, executive director of NYPIRG, hopes that the site will help New Yorkers understand the influence that local and state governments have on their lives.
“I think that people are starving — either should be starving or are starving — to find out more about what’s happening in politics.”
To get there: Go to http://www.nypirg.org and select “Who Represents Me?”
