As New Yorkers head to the polls to vote for their governor and congressmembers, they’ll also be asked to weigh in on a series of ballot questions that could expand outdoor dining and speed up the development of new bike and bus lanes.
The November ballot features five proposed amendments to the city charter, New York City’s municipal constitution. Last year, voters overwhelmingly approved four proposals aimed at fast-tracking housing development in the five boroughs.
Previous Mayor Eric Adams tried to influence this year’s charter amendment process on his way out, creating a “zombie” charter commission on his final day in office. Mayor Zohran Mamdani disbanded the body and replaced it with his own Commission on Government Efficiency, or “COGE” — a cheeky reference to Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
The commission held public meetings in each borough to hear testimony on how residents thought city government could work faster and more effectively. Commissioners then developed five proposals for this year’s ballot.
Here’s what they say and how they could affect outdoor dining, city contracting, bus and bike lane construction, vacant city properties, the building permitting process and the city’s rainy day fund.
Early voting starts Saturday, Oct. 24. Election Day is Nov. 3. You can find your poll site at vote.nyc.
Question 1: Speed process for granting a revocable consent to use public space
What the ballot says: Simplify 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.
“Yes” speeds up process to use public space while maintaining community input.
“No” maintains longer process with mandatory public hearing to use public space and Council review of sidewalk cafes.
What it means: Outdoor dining exploded across New York City during the pandemic after officials relaxed regulations to help the struggling restaurant industry. But city data show the number of businesses offering outdoor dining has dropped about 90% since those pandemic highs, largely due to restrictions passed by the City Council in 2023. Earlier this year the Council reversed some of those regulations. This charter amendment aims to further support outdoor dining by cutting down on permitting times and fees.
City officials say it currently takes up to eight months for a restaurant to open an outdoor dining space. The ballot language would combine applications for sidewalk cafés and roadway sheds into a single process, and remove the City Council’s veto power over sidewalk cafés. Commission officials say the changes would cut the application process down to two months and save restaurants up to $1,800 in fees.
City data show the number of businesses offering outdoor dining has dropped about 90% since those pandemic highs.
Gary Hershorn/Getty Images
The measure has the support of restaurants and civic groups like the Regional Plan Association.
“Doing anything we can to drive down these costs I think gets us back to this point that we saw during the pandemic, where every neighborhood around the city was participating and it was really an equalizing program,” said the Regional Plan Association’s New York Director Maulin Mehta.
Question 2: Reduce city contractor paperwork; require regular meetings of procurement policy board
What the ballot says: Reduce paperwork for city 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.
“Yes” amends Procurement Policy Board authority, including to simplify contractor questionnaire; authorizes Mayor to delegate certain contract approvals.
“No” leaves laws unchanged, with Mayor and Comptroller maintaining longer questionnaire.
What it means: The procurement process is essential to municipal government – public data show the city paid out $42.3 billion to outside contractors last fiscal year, about 40% of the city budget. That money went to everything from software licensing to after-school programs to parking garage construction.
Commissioners said they received “overwhelming testimony” regarding the city’s chronic delays in both entering contracts and paying them out. One issue is the long questionnaire potential contractors must fill out. Commissioners say the current form is “extensive and largely immovable,” meaning they have to send hot dog vendors and large banks the same set of questions. The proposal would dramatically simplify the questionnaire. It would also change the required public hearing for certain contracts into a written public comment period, aimed at cutting the procurement process down by about a month.
Question 3: Speed up street safety projects, disposition of unused city property, office leasing
What the ballot says: 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.
“Yes” simplifies street project approval, city property disposition and office leasing.
“No” maintains intra-agency consultation for road projects, Council approval for city property dispositions and Council disapproval of office leases.
What it means: This ballot question aims to streamline the process for building new bike and bus lanes in New York City. The city charter currently defines a “major transportation project” as one affecting 1,000 feet of roadway or four consecutive blocks, or a bike lane of any length. Major transportation projects are subject to multiagency consultation and layers of approval.
The ballot language would reduce the number of agencies and staff that need to approve a street project. It would also fast-track projects aimed at making the most dangerous streets and intersections safer. Commissioners say these changes would speed up the development of bike and bus lines by an estimated 33%.
“ It’s rare to get the opportunity to directly vote for safer streets,” said Charlie Baker, a spokesperson for the nonprofit Transportation Alternatives.
Baker said the charter amendment would also help Mamdani deliver on his campaign pledge to make city buses faster. “You can’t speed up buses if it takes six months to a year to paint a single bus lane,” he said.
Organizations that tend to oppose bike lanes have come out against the proposal, arguing it reduces community input and transparency.
“We see bike lanes and double bus lanes and things coming in that we didn’t even hear about and now they wanna fast-track this,” said Janet Schroeder, director of the NYC E-Vehicle Safety Alliance. “Do you know what that’s called? Authoritarian. Trumpy.”
Some civic groups that usually support street safety measures are coming out against this question because it includes language on unrelated topics. The charter amendment also aims to expedite the sale of unused city property and air rights, and make it easier for the city to lease private office space.
“We are extremely unhappy with the way the Commission has combined these totally unrelated issues into one proposed question,” the nonprofit Reinvent Albany said in a statement. “This question should be solely about streets, street safety, bike lanes and bus lanes.”
The Brooklyn waterfront in 2024.
C. Taylor Crothers/Getty Images
Question 4: Simplify building permitting and move waterfront permitting to Department of Buildings
What the ballot says: 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.
“Yes” simplifies permitting by authorizing a centralized permitting hub, moving waterfront permitting to Department of Buildings, and allowing additional Department of Buildings officials to issue approvals.
“No” leaves laws unchanged.
What it means: This ballot question would streamline all applications for construction permits into a single digital hub. Right now a large project may need to go through a dozen city agencies to secure the required permits. Commissioners say the charter amendment would bring 40 construction permits from 18 separate offices and agencies into one place. While individual agencies would keep their current responsibilities, commissioners said the centralized permitting hub would create a more user-friendly experience for applicants.
The proposal would also charge the Department of Buildings with overseeing all waterfront development permits. The buildings department currently permits non-maritime structures along the waterfront, but the responsibility for maritime structures lies with the Department of Small Business Services. That’s because the Department of Small Business Services is a vestige of the Department of Docks, which was established in 1870. The charter amendment would place all waterfront construction activity under a single agency.
Question 5: Set contribution targets for rainy day fund to promote sufficient budgetary reserves
What the ballot says: 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.
“Yes” requires mayor to develop methodology for calculating deposits to rainy day fund, with deposits subject to approval in the City budget.
“No” leaves laws unchanged, with no reserves target.
What it means: Though a bit wonky on its face, this is one of the more controversial questions on the ballot. Voters approved a charter amendment establishing a rainy day fund in 2019. Before that the city did not have money in reserves due to balanced budget requirements the state imposed during the 1970s fiscal crisis. The fund now has about $2 billion, but lacks a target size, deposit requirements, or criteria for making withdrawals.
The ballot language would establish a target reserve level of 12% of tax revenues. It would create a flexible deposit formula that’s updated at least every four years. And it would require the mayor to sign off on any withdrawals of over 50% for “compelling fiscal need,” like a recession or natural disaster.
But some fiscal watchdogs say the proposals don’t go far enough. Citizens Budget Commission President Andrew Rein said the charter amendment presents “the illusion of progress, sapping the energy we need for the change that would protect New Yorkers.”
Rein argues the 12% cap is too low — it should be closer to 16% — and the flexible formula means the city isn’t required to put money away in good years. Rein also said the language gives too much leeway to the mayor in defining what’s a compelling fiscal need.
“The mayor could basically use half of it for anything they want,” he said. “ You don’t want to rob your piggy bank when it’s not raining.”
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