The Most Interesting Thing on NYC's November Ballot

It's not the mayoral race, rather the Charter Revision Commission's ballot questions // submit your testimony online by July 15

Summary points (send in testimony!):

• New Yorkers will have several changes to the New York City charter on their ballots this November. It’s a significant package of reforms, and (in my view) is the most interesting thing on the ballot.

• These changes are being put on the ballot by a mayoral charter revision commission. You can read their ballot proposition report here, you can see the actual legal text changes to the charter here, and you can read about how to change the NYC charter (including via charter revision commission) here.

• You can submit testimony to the charter revision commission by July 15. I encourage you to do so, and to let me know after you’ve done it. You can see sample testimony from

  Sachi Takahashi-Rial
  here. I have testified to the CRC in person, and will be submitting a final comment in favor of all of their propositions (if you will be advising the CRC in a different way, no problem, I’d love to here about it!).

Now: here are the five ballot questions the commission will be putting forward, as well as a potential sixth about open primaries they’re still weighing. In the full document there is an FAQ attached to each proposal, so if you have a question about why they’re proposing something, they’ve likely anticipated many questions already.

Question 1: Fast Tracking Affordable Housing

In the first ballot question, the Commission proposes an amendment that would create new fast track public processes for affordable housing. First, the amendment would create a new zoning action for publicly financed affordable housing projects administered by the Board of Standards and Appeals. Second, the amendment would establish an expedited public review procedure for applications that deliver affordable housing in the community districts that produce the least affordable housing.

Question 2: Simplify Review of Modest Housing and Infrastructure Projects

In the second ballot question, the Commission proposes an amendment to created an Expedited Land Use Review Procedure (ELURP) for certain land use changes and projects, including:

• Modest housing proposals that increase residential capacity by no more than 30% or allowing housing with a standard height no taller than 45 feet;

• Acquisition, disposition, and City Map changes related to affordable housing; and

• Minor infrastructure and resiliency projects, like raising the grade of a street to protect a community from flooding and adding solar panels on public land.

Question 3: Establish a Land Use Appeals Board with Council, Borough, and Citywide Voices

In the third ballot question, the Commission proposes an amendment to eliminate the Mayor’s veto power in ULURP and replace it with a new ULURP Appeals Board, consisting of a Borough President of the affected borough, the Speaker of the City Council, and the Mayor.

➡️ The appeals board would have the power to reverse any land use decisions that the city council (now the de facto termination point of the process) makes via the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP).

Question 4: Modernize the City Map

In the fourth ballot question, the Commission proposes an amendment to require the City to modernize the City Map. Currently, the City Map exists as over 8,000 individual paper maps separately administered by each borough. By replacing that decentralized City Map with a single digital City Map administered by the Department of City Planning, this reform could expedite development and reduce costs for housing, infrastructure, and other projects.

➡️ This is one of those behind-the-scenes fixes to government administration that will not get a ton of press, but will radically streamline many processes and staff hours that depend on using the city map.

Question 5: Even-Year Elections

In the fifth ballot question, the Commission proposes an amendment to move the City’s primary and general election dates to even-numbered years, so that City elections are held in the same year as Federal Presidential elections. This reform is intended to improve voter turnout, make local democracy more inclusive, and save taxpayer money.

➡️ If you’re wondering why New York City’s elections are on odd-numbered years, you can read about that history here.

Potential Question (!): Open Primaries

In addition to the five ballot questions outlined above, the Commission continues to consider whether to propose another reform: establishing open primaries for city elections, in which all voters and all candidates participate, regardless of party membership.

➡️ I’m quite excited about the prospect of voting for this. It would be one of the most significant changes to our city politics in a long time, and a salubrious one at that.

Useful documents

• The charter revision commission interim report, which gives a detailed deep dive into their ballot proposals.

• The charter revision commission’s history of land use in New York City.

• The drafted legal text changes to the New York City charter.

• The ballot proposition one-pager.

• The letter from the CRC’s executive director in the commission’s preliminary report (now superseded by the interim report above).