2025 New York City Charter Revision Commission Adopts Five Ballot Proposals on Housing, Elections for November Election

Questions One through Four Would Speed Delivery of Housing, Especially Affordable Housing and Small Projects 

Question Five Would Move New York City Toward Holding Local Elections in Even-Numbered Years

NEW YORK – The 2025 New York City Charter Revision Commission today voted to adopt five ballot proposals that will appear on New York City voters’ ballots this November. Developed after a complete review of the City Charter, extensive public input, and staff research, these proposals would address the city’s housing crisis by speeding the delivery of much-needed housing, especially affordable housing, and would help move New York City toward even-year elections when turnout is highest. 

The five approved ballot questions would create an Affordable Housing Fast Track that would allow affordable housing to be approved more quickly and ensure that every part of the city adds affordable housing; an Expedited Land Use Review Procedure (ELURP) that would allow modest projects, affordable housing, and infrastructure and resilience projects to be reviewed more quickly; an Affordable Housing Appeals Board that would give affordable housing proposals that are cut down or rejected another chance of success; modernize the City Map, which today exists as over 8,000 paper maps across five separate borough offices; and move the city toward holding elections in even-numbered years, when more than double the number of people vote. 

Question 1: Fast Track Affordable Housing to Build More Affordable Housing Across the City 

This proposal would create 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 zoning relief for publicly financed affordable housing projects. Second, it would establish a new, streamlined public review procedure for applications that deliver affordable housing in the community districts that have permitted the least affordable housing. This proposal builds on the New York City Council’s Fair Housing Framework, which was passed unanimously in 2023. 

Question 2: Simplify Review of Modest Housing and Infrastructure Projects 

This proposal would create ELURP, a new, simplified review process 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. 

Question 3: Establish an Affordable Housing Appeals Board with Council, Borough, and Citywide Representation  

This proposal would create a new Affordable Housing Appeals Board, made up of the relevant Borough President, the Speaker of the City Council, and the Mayor, that would replace the Mayor’s veto at the end of the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) for projects that would create affordable housing. 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. Responding to public input, this proposal was modified to only be available to projects that would create affordable housing, rather than all land use applications. 

Question 4: Create a Digital City Map to Modernize City Operations 

This proposal would consolidate the official City Map, which plays a little-known but critical role in the approval of housing and infrastructure projects, into a single map and digitize it. Today, the City Map consists of five different sets of maps, one for each borough, totaling over 8,000 individual paper maps. 

Question 5: Move Local Elections to Presidential Election Years to Increase Voter Participation 

This proposal would move 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. This change would also require a further change to the New York State Constitution before it could go into effect. 

Convened in December 2024, the 2025 New York City Charter Revision Commission has held 10 public hearings attended by more than 800 New Yorkers and received more than 3,000 written comments. It has released periodic updates on its work, including a Preliminary Report on April 30 and an Interim Report on July 1; monthly releases of written testimony; a partnership with the innovative open government tool citymeetings.nyc; and notices of public hearings, translated versions of all materials, language interpretation at all meetings, and more. Full details on the five ballot proposals, including the Commission’s Adopted Final Report, proposed updated Charter text, and ballot questions and abstracts, are available on the Commission's website. 

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