Who’s Afraid of a Charter Amendment?
More drama surrounding the ballot questions—and how you can get involved
We’re kicking off our relational organizing program next week. More below, but sign up now!
You’d be forgiven for thinking that the biggest city politics drama happened on the mayoral debate stage last night, as the three men standing traded barbs—none of which seems likely to truly shake things up.
Zohran Mamdani is polling over 50% for the first time, and time is running out for Andrew Cuomo or Curtis Sliwa to change the trajectory of the race.
From the top of the ticket to the back of the ballot, the real drama is about the charter amendments to speed up affordable housing creation. We’ve talked here and in our voter guide about why these updates to the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) are critical to address the housing affordability crisis. Opponents of new homes are unhappy, and they’re lashing out.
First, Republican members of the Board of Elections and council members who don’t want the status quo to change tried to keep the Charter Review Commission’s questions off our ballots—a bald abuse of their ministerial role to print ballots. Second, Republican council members and Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis sued to block the questions—a suit tossed out this week. (Indeed, opposition to the ballot questions is the Republican position: the only mayoral candidate against them is Sliwa.)
Now, the City Council is sending mailers to city households and presenting at Community Boards, fear-mongering about the amendments. Not only do the presentations contain falsehoods, but the use of government mail to advocate for “no” votes appears to be illegal electioneering.
The council is scared of processes that don’t require all new proposals to go through them—even if it means increasing the supply of 100% publicly financed affordable housing, ensuring affordable housing is actually created equitably across the city, and enabling the approval of modest new buildings that New Yorkers want but that are currently never proposed due to the cost, time, and labor-intensity of the current council process.
Thankfully, they might be going low, but we’re going hard.
On Wednesday, we rallied with housing advocates, community activists, faith leaders, and elected champions in support of these amendments. New York Housing Conference leader Rachel Fee and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards both wrote powerful op-eds in support. And groups representing diverse New York populations—like the Ali Forney Center serving queer youth—are joining the coalition.
Our biggest push in support of the amendments will be through our relational organizing program, kicking off next week. It’s fast, easy, and impactful. Sign up here!
Let’s pass these amendments and show the NIMBYs that we won’t be beaten at the BOE, in court, or at the ballot box.