Village Preservation is recommending you VOTE NO on Charter Revision Ballot Measures 2, 3, and 4, which will be put before voters this fall. 

The Mayor’s Charter Revision Commission has released its final ballot proposals, which will be up for a vote in November’s elections. If approved, they would change the NYC Charter, or constitution, and the measures 2-4 would transfer a considerable amount of power and decision-making on development issues to the Mayor and away from communities and the City Council. They would concentrate more power in the Mayor’s hands to decide if and when developments that are bigger than existing rules allow, or otherwise violate current regulations, could be built in communities across the city — decisions that currently require a much fuller vetting process and community input. And despite what the Mayor says, most of these projects would be by far majority-luxury developments.

Our city’s land use and planning process is far from perfect — it’s much too susceptible to manipulation by the very powerful, and does too little to take into account its negative effects or to accurately predict its outcomes. But the Mayor’s proposed changes will only make matters worse — eliminating useful safeguards and oversight, and concentrating decision-making all in the hands of one person.

As we approach November, Village Preservation will provide more details. We strongly recommend a “NO” vote on NYC ballot questions 2, 3, and 4 (we are not issuing recommendations regarding ballot questions 1, 5, and 6).