Each block on this histogram represents a change—e.g., a substantive change, repeal & replace, or renumbering—to an individual section rather than an amendment. Some amendments result in multiple changes, resulting in multiple blocks being attributed to one amendment. Likewise, a section may be amended more than once in an year, but these amendments will only appear as one block on the histogram. When a block or blocks are marked red in a specific year, that means that a new constitution went into effect that year.
The Constitution’s provisions are organized into articles, and each article is split into sections. Here, you can view an outline of the Constitution, see the Constitution’s full text as it stood on any date since ratification, and compare any amended provision of the Constitution to its earlier version.
Explore by Year
View the constitution’s amendments by year of adoption and historical context for significant amendments.
The New York Constitution & Its Amendments
Since 1777, New York has held eight constitutional conventions. Five of these conventions proposed significant changes to the entire constitution, while others proposed discrete constitutional amendments. Between conventions, voters have also adopted hundreds of amendments proposed by the legislature. The state has also regularly convened constitutional commissions to consider further amendments or prepare for conventions and convention votes.
The New York Constitution can be amended in two ways. First, the state legislature can refer proposed amendments to voters by passing them in two successive terms. The state’s voters can then choose to enact the proposals by majority vote. Second, New Yorkers have an opportunity every 20 years to vote on whether to call a constitutional convention, and the legislature can place a convention question on the ballot at other times as well. If voters approve the convention call, and the convention then proposes amendments or an entirely new constitution, those proposals are put on the ballot for New Yorkers to accept or reject by majority vote.
* Scholarly and government sources frequently refer to New York as having adopted four, or five, constitutions. However, the post-1777 constitutions were never presented to voters as a new constitution; instead, these changes were proposed to voters as collections of amendments following constitutional conventions. At times, courts have referred to these post-convention changes as amendments; at other times, courts have described them as new constitutions. For more information, see 1821, 1846, 1846, 1894, and 1938.
New York State Capitol. Bluefill.
