On the back of the New York City mayoral ballot are six proposals. The Daily News strongly endorses a Yes vote on questions 2, 3, and 4 to build more housing in the city.
The City Council, under Speaker Adrienne Adams, in using millions of dollars in government funds to mail out flyers denouncing these three questions is violating the law and even more of a reason to vote Yes on the measures, which will speed construction and do away with the pernicious local veto held by Council members.
Using public resources, the Council’s flyers present frightening predictions about increasing gentrification and worse schools in boldface font, which the Council is also supplementing with digital ads.
The excellent proposals come from the experts on the Charter Revision Commission to get around the political roadblocks that the Council has abused for decades to thwart new development. Which explains why Speaker Adams is so blatant in breaking the law. And why she tried to get the Board of Elections to illegally keep the proposals off the ballot.
The speaker is free to be wrong in opposing the charter questions, as is spoiler mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa, but she has no right to misuse her office to achieve the political goal she shares with Sliwa to prevent housing from being built.
Speaking of mayoral contenders, Andrew Cuomo is the correct side urging a Yes vote, while Zohran Mamdani shows only cowardly weakness in refusing to take a stand on either side. Hardly mayoral leadership there, Zohran.
Having been unable to stop the ballot questions in court or at the BOE, the speaker is running an illegal electoral campaign against them using tax money. We trust she will lose and the citizens of New York City will vote Yes on the proposals.
The Council is absolutely right that these proposals strip away some of its authority, but that is only because that the body has for many long years slow-rolled or completely axed needed rezonings and other moves towards the construction of desperately-needed housing, often for the simple reason that members feel boxed in by their loudest constituents, many of whom happen to be NIMBYs with a lot of time on their hands.
The lack of affordable housing in the five boroughs is an emergency, like a raging fire, and decisive action is needed immediately. The Council has specialized in stalling and killing development and they must lose that power. The public, not the pols, will have the final say with the trio of ballot proposals.
Proposal 2 would move affordable housing plans faster through the approval process instead of the seven months now required. Proposal 3 creates a faster review system for smaller land use projects and Proposal 4 has a new appeals structure, where the Council retains a role, but not sole discretion, to sign off on a rezoning.
The Council has been wielding that power irresponsibly, which they politely call “member deference,” but we correctly label it as “local veto” over entire developments with hundreds or even thousands of units.
That obstinance has to end and it will when the three amendments are made to the City Charter. As for the Council’s improper electioneering, the mailers are sent, setting a terrible precedent, but the voters should set a better one by passing Proposals 2, 3 and 4.
