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What counts as a meeting in New York: the official convening and quorum

Short answer

In New York, a meeting is the official convening of a public body to conduct public business, including by videoconference. A public body is any entity with two or more members that needs a quorum to do public business and performs a governmental function. For a board of three or more, a quorum is a majority of its whole number, counting vacant seats. The law's text does not say whether email or an informal gathering is a meeting.(N.Y. Pub. Off. Law § 102(1))

This guide explains the law in plain words; it is not legal advice. For a question about your board, ask your town, village or city attorney.
By Clarivis · Checked against Public Officers Law §§ 102(1), 102(2) and 103(a), and General Construction Law § 41 on Tue, Oct 27, 2026.

Where this fits in your meeting cycle: Clarivis is software that helps a board follow these steps: it counts the notice deadline for each meeting set in Clarivis a week or more ahead, shows the minutes deadline for each meeting and drafts the minutes for your board to correct and approve; it does not post the notice or send it to the news media for you.

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Questions on this page

What is a meeting under the Open Meetings Law?

The law defines it in one sentence:

Statute text

“Meeting” means the official convening of a public body for the purpose of conducting public business, including the use of videoconferencing for attendance and participation by the members of the public body.

N.Y. Pub. Off. Law § 102(1)

So three things matter: the body is convened officially, it is a public body, and the purpose is public business. The definition does not mention a vote; it turns on the purpose of conducting public business. Every meeting of a public body is open to the public, except an executive session (§ 103(a)). For closing part of a meeting, see the executive session guide.

Which boards does the law cover?

Any public body:

Statute text

“Public body” means any entity, for which a quorum is required in order to conduct public business and which consists of two or more members, performing a governmental function

N.Y. Pub. Off. Law § 102(2)

A town board, a planning board and a zoning board of appeals are typical. The section also reaches a "committee or subcommittee or other similar body consisting of members of such public body", and an entity created to perform a necessary function in the decision-making process. Read the whole section with your attorney if your board is unusual.

What is a quorum?

The Open Meetings Law uses the word but does not give a number. The General Construction Law does, for a board of three or more:

Statute text

“a majority of the whole number of such persons or officers, gathered together in the presence of each other or through the use of videoconferencing, at a meeting duly held at a time fixed by law, or by any by-law duly adopted by such board or body, or at any duly adjourned meeting of such meeting, or at any meeting duly held upon reasonable notice to all of them, shall constitute a quorum”

N.Y. Gen. Constr. Law § 41

"Whole number" counts every seat, vacant or not:

Statute text

“For the purpose of this provision the words “whole number” shall be construed to mean the total number which the board, commission, body or other group of persons or officers would have were there no vacancies and were none of the persons or officers disqualified from acting.”

N.Y. Gen. Constr. Law § 41

So a seven-member board with two vacancies still has a quorum of four. The section speaks of three or more members; for a two-member body, ask your attorney what the quorum is. For members joining by video, see the remote participation guide.

Does a work session or workshop count?

The definition turns on an "official convening" for "public business", not on the name of the gathering. This guide reads the words as covering a work session, workshop or briefing at which the board is officially convened to discuss its business; confirm with your attorney if you are unsure. The safe course is the same notice and the same minutes as any other meeting. See the notice guide and the minutes guide.

Can members discuss board business by email, text or phone?

The text of the law is silent. It defines a meeting as an official convening, including by videoconference, and says nothing about email, text messages or a chain of calls. Whether a discussion among a quorum by those means is a meeting is a question this guide does not answer. Take it to your attorney. The safe course for members between meetings:

  • Use email to settle a date, time or place, and nothing more.
  • Send information to the chair, secretary or clerk, who includes it in the meeting packet, rather than to the whole board.
  • Do not "reply all" with views on an item the board will decide. Save it for the meeting, where the public can hear it.
  • If someone starts a discussion by email, do not answer on the thread. Say it belongs at the next meeting.

Does a subcommittee have its own meetings?

The definition of public body names a "committee or subcommittee or other similar body consisting of members of such public body" (§ 102(2)). A subcommittee made up of members of a covered board meets that part of the definition, so its convening is a meeting of its own, with its own notice and its own minutes. The exclusion for recommendations or guidance that are purely advisory is written into a different part of the definition, for entities created or appointed to perform a necessary function in the decision-making process; whether an advisory group whose members are not board members is a public body is a question for your attorney.

Checklist

Items marked (safe course) are good practice, not the statute's words.

Between meetings

  • (Safe course) Email and phone among members only to schedule a meeting.
  • (Safe course) Information for the board goes to the chair, secretary or clerk for the packet, not to everyone.
  • (Safe course) No "reply all" with views on business the board will decide.

Before a work session, retreat or workshop

  • Noticed like any other meeting (§ 104(1); for a meeting scheduled less than a week ahead, § 104(2)).
  • Minutes will be kept (§ 106(1)).

At the meeting

  • (Safe course) Every member recorded present, remote or absent.
  • (Safe course) Count the members present against your board's quorum, a majority of its whole number, before business that needs a vote.

What the law does not settle

Questions to take to your town, village or city attorney; this guide does not answer them.

  • Whether an exchange of emails or text messages among a quorum is a meeting.
  • Whether a chain of one-to-one conversations that together reach a quorum is a meeting.
  • Whether a social gathering or a chance encounter of a quorum is a meeting, and when it becomes one.
  • Whether an advisory group whose members are not members of the board is a public body.
  • What the quorum is for a two-member body.

How Clarivis helps

Clarivis does not see email or messages between members and does not tell you whether a gathering was a meeting. At the meeting itself, it helps the record show who was there.

  • Attendance for every member. In Live Meeting, each member is recorded present, remote or absent, and remote is never folded into present.
  • Your quorum, set in Settings. A new committee starts with quorum not set. A Committee Admin or the Clerk enters the real number in Settings, then Committee; until then quorum reads Not evaluated. Clarivis never works it out from the law.
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