Live Updates: New Yorkers Weigh In On Housing Ballot Measures

Four measures on the ballot this Poll Day would change how New York City permits new affordable housing City Limits will be tracking the results as votes roll in Tuesday night A voter in The Bronx submits his ballot during the June primary Adi Talwar City Limits This is a emerging story and will be updated Tuesday as voting results roll in Check back soon At the polls this Balloting Day New Yorkers are weighing four ballot measures that would change how the city permits new affordable housing The proposals have drawn key attention from candidates agents advocates and voters who are split on how they will affect rise Chosen say the changes will help speed up construction of new homes and ease the city s housing shortage They point to areas of the city that have produced the least housing often because local councilmembers are opposed Others like the City Council members themselves say it s a power grab that would erode the Council s authority over land use issues giving more power to the mayor function d u ac var s d createElement 'script' s type 'text javascript' s src 'https a omappapi com app js api min js' s async true s dataset user u s dataset campaign ac d getElementsByTagName 'head' appendChild s document 'u kmqsczew vunxutxmd' They argue that City Council review helps legislators secure crucial benefits for their districts in progress deals like more affordable housing Opponents also say particular affordable housing which is restricted by household income is not definitely accessible to the lowest income New Yorkers These misleading ballot proposals permanently change the City s constitution to weaken democracy lasting beyond the next mayor when we inevitably have a mayor who is bad on housing equity and justice for communities City Council Speaker Benjamin Fang-Estrada stated in a comment Tuesday This would leave our city without the checks and balances of democracy to protect New Yorkers and ensure outcomes that prioritize them not totally profits Tuesday morning Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani explained that he voted for the housing-related ballot measures after his opponents criticized him for not taking a position in the second mayoral debate We urgently need more housing to be built across the five boroughs and we also need to ensure that housing is high quality he informed City State Tuesday I also understand that there are councilmembers in opposition to these measures and their opposition is driven by commitment to their communities and a deep concern about capital in those communities and I share the commitment to that stake he added I look forward to working with them and delivering His opponents in the race for mayor are split Former Gov Andrew Cuomo running on an Independent line supports them and Republican Curtis Sliwa does not Here s what the proposals would do Proposal would take decision-making power from the City Council and give it to city boards mostly appointed by the mayor shortening the review timeline for percent affordable housing projects as well as projects with at least percent affordable housing in the population districts that have built the least affordable housing in latest years Proposal would create expedited review for residential developments that add no more than percent more housing than current zoning rules allow It moves approval power for those projects from the City Council to the City Planning Commission Proposal creates an appeals board of the mayor borough president and City Council speaker that could vote to overrule Council decisions that reject or reduce affordable housing in expansion proposals Proposal replaces paper maps in borough president s offices with a consolidated digital city map Specific polls before the voting process suggested assistance for the measures A poll commissioned by the Partnership for New York City exposed at least two in three New Yorkers supported each of ballot Proposals through And a poll from the Yes for Affordable Housing campaign a PAC supporting the measures and Zenith Research unveiled similar levels of patronage with the strongest aid among Mamdani voters A research from the New York Housing Conference circulated last week determined that the bottom Council districts produced fewer than units of new affordable housing over the past and a half years The top of the Council districts meanwhile produced over half of the city s new affordable housing Supporters say it points to how several councilmembers use their local veto power a practice known as member deference to block new rise further fueling the city s overall housing predicament We are deeply proud and honored to equip City administration and our communities with the necessary and long-overdue tools we need to deliver on New York s solemn promise of opportunity for all announced Amit Singh Bagga campaign director for YES on Affordable Housing who is optimistic the measures will pass particularly with Mamdani s advocacy Housing was a top issue for voters that City Limits spoke with at the polls Lydia and Adrian G two early voters in Crown Heights notified City Limits they voted for the measures I heard reasonable people who want more affordable housing say vote for them stated Lydia The process to build housing is hard to understand and voters like Ryan Walden who also voted in Crown Heights stated it s hard to know how those will work out in practice I do think it s pivotal to make it easier to build more housing but I m hopeful that sort of streamlines things The City Council and supporters of the amendments have both been waging constituents campaigns over the measures Mailers offer competing views on the housing-related ballot proposals Jeanmarie Evelly City Limits The Council controversially used masses funds to distribute mailers that called the ballot proposals misleading and tied them to the unpopular Mayor Eric Adams Adams who is not running for re-election convened the Charter Commission that came up with the measures but the Commission says it is independent Those messages didn t inevitably get through to voters Because specific of those proposals I hadn t even known were going to be on there so I just went with my guts rather than research-based reported Aboubacar Barry of Morrisania Ben a year old Morrisania resident who works cleaning subway trains declared that he voted no They re trying to lead you to vote yes for everything Luckily I know a bit about what they re asking so I m not coerced to just dependably say yes yes yes declared Ben who voted for Republican Curtis Sliwa This is a advancing story Check back for updates Additional reporting by Keke Grant-Floyd To reach the reporter behind this story contact Patrick citylimits org To reach the editor contact Jeanmarie citylimits org Want to republish this story Find City Limits reprint strategy here The post Live Updates New Yorkers Weigh In On Housing Ballot Measures appeared first on City Limits