2025 New York City Charter Revision Commission Releases Interim Report with Potential Housing, Election Reforms  

Land Use Reforms Would Advance Affordable Housing, Enable Small Projects, Elevate Borough-wide and Citywide Perspectives

Commission Proposes Moving to Even-Year Elections, Invites Further Feedback on Open Primaries

Building on More than 26 Hours of Public Testimony Already Received, Commission to Hold Public Hearing on July 7, Public Meeting on July 21

NEW YORK – Following a full review of the City Charter, the 2025 New York City Charter Revision Commission (CRC) today released its interim report, including five proposals that the Commission may choose to put to New York City voters: four on housing and land use, and one on elections. The Commission also invites further testimony as it considers a shift to open primaries. Together, the housing proposals would help deliver more housing faster, especially affordable housing and modestly-sized developments, and the election reforms would help boost voter turnout and make the electorate more representative of the full diversity of New York City.

In particular, the four housing proposals would create an Affordable Housing Fast Track; create a new, simplified review process for modest housing and infrastructure projects; replace the mayor’s veto of land use changes with a new Appeals Board made up of citywide and borough-wide elected officials; and consolidate and digitize the City Map, which today exists across more than 8,000 paper maps. In elections reform, the Commission proposes holding municipal elections in presidential years, when more voters turn out; and invites additional testimony on establishing open primaries for city elections, in which all candidates and all voters participate in a single primary.

The interim report builds on more than 26 hours of testimony at nine public hearings and more than 600 written comments. The report details proposals on which the Commission has reached broad consensus and invites testimony to help refine and correct its proposals. The Commission is especially interested in public feedback on the possibility of shifting to open primaries, and invites interested New Yorkers to weigh in on these proposals at a public hearing on Monday, July 7. The Commission will also accept written testimony until July 15. The Commission will then hold a public meeting on Monday, July 21. Commissioners must vote to approve the final report and any proposals before questions will be put to voters.

“The Commission’s interim report includes a strong set of proposals that meet the moment for New York City. Together, they can help build a more affordable city and a more responsive government,” said Richard R. Buery, Jr., chair, 2025 Charter Revision Commission. “I am grateful to the New Yorkers who have taken time to weigh in and help shape these reforms, and look forward to hearing additional input in the weeks to come.”

“At public forums across the city, New Yorkers have made clear they want a government that can act with the urgency and scale that our challenges require. These proposed reforms would give New York tools it needs to tackle the housing crisis and build a more affordable city,” said Alec Schierenbeck, executive director, 2025 Charter Revision Commission. “The proposals are also intended to give New Yorkers the vibrant representative democracy that they deserve. More voices in local elections, and a City government that delivers between elections, is a recipe for a stronger New York. We invite New Yorkers to continue to weigh in as the Commission finalizes proposals for the ballot.”

FAST TRACK AFFORDABLE HOUSING

In its first question, the report proposes new fast track public processes for affordable housing. First, it would create a new action at the Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) that could grant relief from zoning for publicly financed affordable housing projects. Building on an existing BSA power, this action would provide a significantly streamlined approval process for affordable housing projects that meet certain conditions.

It would also establish a new, streamlined public review procedure for applications that deliver affordable housing in the community districts that permit the least affordable housing. Building on the Fair Housing Framework established by the City Council in 2023, the Affordable Housing Fast Track would cut review time in half for projects that would deliver affordable housing in the 12 Community Districts that permitted the least affordable housing in a five-year period, beginning January 2027.

This proposal would speed the delivery of affordable housing and ensure that it is built in every community — addressing the citywide housing crisis and one of the root causes of segregation, displacement, and gentrification.

SIMPLIFY REVIEW OF MODEST HOUSING AND INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS

In its second question, the report proposes to create a new Expedited Land Use Review Procedure (ELURP) for certain land use changes, including modest increases in how much housing is allowed, acquisition and disposition of land to facilitate affordable housing, and urgently-needed climate resiliency projects. This new process would enable the types of smaller or categorically-beneficial projects that New Yorkers say they want to see, but that full ULURP makes functionally impossible or far too costly today.

REPLACE THE MAYOR’S POWER TO VETO CITY COUNCIL LAND USE ACTIONS WITH A ULURP APPEALS BOARD

In its third question, the report proposes replacing the Mayor’s veto at the end of ULURP with a new Appeals Board, made up of the relevant Borough President, the Speaker of the City Council, and the Mayor. The Appeals Board would have the ability to reverse City Council decisions on certain land use matters only if two out of three officials agree. By elevating borough-and city-wide perspectives in the land use process, this change would strike a better balance between local input and citywide needs, and provide a pathway for land use changes in parts of the city where the practice known as “member deference” has functionally shut off housing development today.

MODERNIZE THE CITY MAP

In its fourth question, the draft report proposes centralizing and digitizing the City Map, which today consists of five different sets, one for each borough, totaling over 8,000 individual paper maps. The proposal would consolidate the official City Map, which plays a little-known but critical role in housing and infrastructure projects in New York, into a single map and digitize it. In doing so, the proposal could allow reviews that can take as much as a year to be done nearly instantaneously.

MOVE MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS TO EVEN-NUMBERED YEARS

In its fifth question, the report proposes moving the City’s primary and general election dates to even-numbered years, when presidential elections are held, to improve voter turnout, make local democracy more inclusive, and save taxpayer money. Even-year elections in New York see significantly higher turnout than odd-year elections — more than double, on average — and peer cities see significantly higher turnout in local elections held in even years. This change would also require a further change to the New York State Constitution before it could go into effect.

ESTABLISH OPEN PRIMARIES FOR CITY ELECTIONS

The Commission is particularly interested in hearing additional testimony on the prospect of shifting to open primaries for city elections, in which all voters and all candidates would participate, with party identification on the ballot, and the top two vote-getters via ranked choice voting would advance to the general election. Over the past six months, the Commission has conducted a close review of this reform and partnered with experts on elections and election law, including former Attorney General Loretta Lynch, to examine the effects of any potential changes. As the Commission approaches its vote on which questions to advance to voters, it invites interested New Yorkers to testify on the topic.

Additional details about the proposals, including the full interim report and proposed modifications to the City Charter itself, are available at nyc.gov/charter. Follow the Commission on Instagram, Threads, and X at @2025nyc_crc.

###