Besides electing a new mayor, New Yorkers will also have to vote on several measures that could change how city government approves new housing.

While mayoral candidates Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa are making it clear this week that they’re on opposite sides of the issue, Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani has yet to say how he will vote on the divisive referendums.

What You Need To Know

  • Besides electing the new top dog at City Hall in November, New Yorkers will need to decide if they want several proposed housing-related changes to the City Charter

  • One would fast-track applications in neighborhoods that typically don’t produce a lot of affordable housing, while the second would simplify the review period of modest amounts of additional housing and another would create a new affordable housing appeals board to review city council actions

  • The referendums are being pushed by Mayor Eric Adams, but opposed by a bipartisan group of  lawmakers — like City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams — who argue the changes would weaken the City Council’s legislative check on the mayor, silence public input and largely benefit wealthy developers at the expense of neighborhoods outside Manhattan

One would fast-track applications in neighborhoods that typically don’t produce a lot of affordable housing, while the second would simplify the review period of modest amounts of additional housing and another would create a new affordable housing appeals board to review city council actions.

It’s being pushed by Mayor Eric Adams, but opposed by a bipartisan group of lawmakers — like City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams — who argue the changes would weaken the City Council’s legislative check on the mayor, silence public input and largely benefit wealthy developers at the expense of neighborhoods outside Manhattan.

Supporters like Andrew Cuomo say those proposals would help shave bureaucracy that’s stymied housing construction.

“It’s hard for the political process to do something where there is opposition. That’s why you can’t allow one council person a veto on a project,” he said.

Past projects have died thanks to opposition from individual members, like a blood bank on the Upper East Side, and the Bally’s casino project in the Bronx was first rejected by the council after GOP Councilmember Kristie Marmarato said she wasn’t on board.

Mayor Adams then overrode the veto, and the plan was approved.

“If I only did projects that every assemblyman and senator signed off on, I would’ve done nothing,” Cuomo said.

Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa thinks voters should reject what he describes as a giveaway from Adams to wealthy developers who have no interest in preserving communities.

“Eric Adams in 2025 tried to take all the power back to City Hall. So what do these charter revision questions, as they’re called 1,2, 3 and 4 mean? It means zoning, forget about it,” Sliwa said.
“There’s no zoning anymore. You’re a developer? You’re a realtor? The price is right, let’s face it,” he added.

But frontrunner Zohran Mamdani stalled when asked where he stands.

“This will be a decision that New Yorkers will take and I am having active meetings with a number of stakeholders to better assess what the impacts and implications this will portend for housing supply and housing construction,” he said during an unrelated press conference in Midtown.

Mamdani’s campaign promises to make the city more affordable go hand-in-hand with making housing cheaper and building more.

He will likely have to rely on millionaires and wealthy developers to deliver his goals — groups he’s been critical of that stand to benefit from these ballot proposals.

“I’ll share my opinion on those proposals after having those conversations,” he said.