NYC 2025: Pro-Housing Charter Reforms Approved for November Ballot

"New York City residents will be able to vote this November on several ballot measures that would make it easier to build apartments and diminish the power City Council members wield over development in their districts," said the New York Times. "A special city panel, known as a Charter Revision Commission, voted on Monday to place five measures on the ballot. Most of them are intended to remove some political and bureaucratic barriers to development that have made New York’s housing shortage difficult to fix, the commission said."

Most of the City Council is not supportive: "The measures are sure to be contentious, particularly among neighborhood activists wary of development and members of the City Council who stand to lose power. Council members have long enjoyed an unofficial veto for big new developments in their district, a practice commonly known as 'member deference.' Many use the threat of the veto to negotiate better amenities or lower rents from developers."

Read or listen to more on these potential changes here.