What’s at stake in NYC’s November elections

Election season is right around the corner, and New Yorkers will have more than candidates to consider on their ballots. On Nov. 3, voters across the five boroughs will also decide on five proposed amendments to the city charter.

The proposals were developed by the Commission on Government Efficiency (COGE), which Mayor Zohran Mamdani created in May to identify ways to streamline city government and speed up the delivery of public services. COGE held 10 meetings across the five boroughs in early summer before releasing five proposed amendments in July, based on written and verbal testimony from more than 800 New Yorkers.

Each proposal requires a majority of voters to approve it in order to pass. But these measures would do more than create new laws: they would amend the city’s charter, essentially New York City’s local constitution. If approved, the changes would fundamentally reshape how city government is organized and operates. 

The measures would make changes ranging from speeding up housing and construction permitting to simplifying the approval process for outdoor dining and street-safety projects and establishing a minimum balance for the city’s “rainy day fund.”

Voters will have an opportunity to vote on these ballot measures as soon as early voting begins on Oct. 24. More information on how to register to vote and where your nearest polling site is located can be found on the NYC Board of Elections website. 

Below is the text of each proposal as it will appear on the ballot, along with a brief explanation of what each measure would do. 

Proposal #1: Simplify the process to use public space for uses such as ramps, planters, and cafes, by removing mandatory hearings and Council disapproval of sidewalk cafes, while maintaining community and Council input.

If passed, this ballot measure would significantly speed up the process restaurants, bars and cafes must go through to receive approval for outdoor dining, cutting the application process from five to eight months to about two months, according to COGE. 

Currently, restaurants and other businesses must attend a public meeting, pay out of pocket to publish notices in a local newspaper and notify local representatives before receiving a permit from the Department of Transportation. The City Council can also overrule the DOT’s decision.

The amendment would eliminate the public-hearing requirement, allow public comment to be submitted through a more convenient process and remove the Council’s ability to veto applications.

The proposal follows legislation introduced by Council Member Lincoln Restler and passed by the City Council in August that allows year-round outdoor dining across the city. 

Proposal #2: Reduce paperwork for City’s contractors by authorizing Procurement Policy Board to simplify contractor questionnaire. Require quarterly meetings of the Procurement Policy Board. Remove mandatory hearing for required client services report. 

This proposal would seek to reduce the amount of paperwork required from companies seeking city contracts and streamline the infamously laborious procurement process.

The amendment would give the Procurement Policy Board greater flexibility to simplify the questionnaire contractors must complete and require the board to meet quarterly. According to COGE, the changes could reduce the time it takes the city to select winning bids for contracts by 12%, around 30 days. 

Proposal #3: Simplify review of street safety projects to reduce construction timelines. Fast track disposition of unused City property with approval from City Planning Commission. Expedite leasing offices used for City workforce.

This amendment would seek to reduce bureaucratic delays in street-safety projects, speed up the sale of certain city-owned properties and make it easier for the city to lease office space. 

The amendment would allow the DOT to begin certain urgent transportation projects, including bike and bus lanes, if the agency can demonstrate that the project is necessary based on safety data.

Currently, some sales of city-owned property can take as long as seven months because they must go through the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, or ULURP. The proposal would allow certain sales of small plots that do not require an environmental impact statement to instead go through the Expedited Land Use Review Procedure, or ELURP, which takes about 90 days to complete.  

Proposal #4: Create centralized construction permits hub to simplify permitting. Move waterfront permitting from Department of Small Business Services to Department of Buildings. Allow construction approval by additional Department of Buildings officials. 

This proposal would expand the number of officials who the Department of Buildings (DOB) commissioner could appoint to approve construction plans. 

Perhaps more significantly, the proposal would centralize the application process for new construction in a new hub under the DOB by 2030. Currently, applicants can be required to receive 40 separate approvals from 18 different city agencies, each with their own application portals.  

This proposal would also relieve the Department of Small Business Services of their responsibility to handle certain waterfront permitting and transfer those responsibilities to the DOB.  

Proposal #5: Set target amount of money to hold in reserve funds, including rainy day fund, to address unexpected financial hardships in future years, and require development of methodology to calculate contributions. 

This proposal would establish minimum contribution requirements for the city’s “rainy day fund,” which was created in 2019 to help the city weather economic downturns, emergencies and unexpected revenue shortfalls.

Currently, there is no minimum balance the city is required to maintain in the fund. The amendment would establish a target balance equal to 12% of the previous year’s tax revenues and require the Office of Management and Budget and the Comptroller to develop a methodology for making contributions when the fund falls below that target by 2027.