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NEW YORK CITY, UNITED STATES – JUNE 24: New York City Democrats go to the polls to decide their New York City mayor candidate, on Tuesday, June 24, New York City, United States. (Photo by Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)
NEW YORK – New York City voters, be prepared to decide on more than just your next mayor. Here’s a breakdown of five new proposals that will be on the ballots come this November.
5 proposals added to NYC ballots
What we know:
The 2025 New York City Charter Revision Commission, a group tasked with reviewing the New York City Charter, voted to add five proposals to the ballots for the city’s upcoming mayoral election.
The proposed ballot questions relate to:
- Fast tracking affordable housing
- Simplifying the review of modest housing and infrastructure projects
- Establishing an affordable housing appeals board
- Creating a digital city map
- Moving local elections to presidential election years
JUMP TO: Proposal One | Proposal Two | Proposal Three | Proposal Four | Proposal Five
‘Fast Track Affordable Housing to Build More Affordable Housing Across the City’
This proposal would create two new paths for creating affordable housing in an effort to streamline the process.
Under this proposal, the Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) would ideally be able to approve new city projects in a timely manner.
Voting in favor of the proposal would remove the New York City Council from the process entirely.
‘Simplify Review of Modest Housing and Infrastructure Projects’
If approved, this proposal would create a simplified review procedure for certain projects; the Expedited Land Use Review Procedure would follow a similar path as the previous proposal.
‘Establish an Affordable Housing Appeals Board with Council, Borough, and Citywide Representation’
The third addition to the ballot would create a new Affordable Housing Appeals Board, comprised of the mayor, the speaker of the City Council and the borough president relevant to the housing area.
This board would also have the ability to reverse City Council decisions on particular land use matters, if two of the three officials agree. However, the proposal would only be made available to create affordable housing.
‘Create a Digital City Map to Modernize City Operations’
Voters who are interested in replacing the paper city map with a digital city map (administered by the Department of City Planning) should vote yes to this proposal.
The current City Map consists of five different sets of maps, one for each borough – a unified City Map of all five boroughs has never been adopted.
‘Move Local Elections to Presidential Election Years to Increase Voter Participation’
The final added proposal, if approved, would move the city toward holding primary and general elections in even-numbered years, in order to align with presidential elections.
Response from the City Council
What they’re saying:
Some leaders of the New York City Council issued a statement earlier this year in response to the ballot proposals:
“Since 2022, the Council has approved over 120,000 units of housing and secured more than $8 billion of additional investments to make housing more affordable and better support neighborhoods. This progress for our city would not have been possible without the Council’s role in the land use process. Mayor Eric Adams’ Charter Revision Commission conveniently ignored these facts to advance a self-serving narrative in support of expanded mayoral power, even as his administration hypocritically overturned housing at the Elizabeth Street garden that was approved years ago by the Council. This commission’s misguided proposals would undermine the ability to deliver more affordable housing, homeownership opportunities, good-paying union jobs, and neighborhood investments for New Yorkers across the five boroughs.”
The Source: This article includes information provided by the 2025 New York City Charter Revision Commission.
2025 election for NYC mayorPoliticsNew York City