City elections going on now!

The tenant association urges you to vote like a tenant!  Who will be best for us and keep rents as low as possible?

Dem. Zohran Mamdani has promised to freeze the rents of rent-stabilized tenants.

Ind. Andrew Cuomo told big real estate that the 2019 tenant protections went too far and he'd roll them back. 

Rep. Curtis Sliwa wants to protect small landlords. 

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The ballot proposals on the back of the ballot all need more explanation. 

Question 1:  Approve (retroactively) a private company's creation of an illegal ski facility in the Adirondacks, if the company adds additional land to the Adirondack protected area.

Questions 2 through 4 are about housing, and give more power to the mayor (whoever it is) and take the City Council out of approvals.  

NOW	CHANGE TO THIS
All zoning changes must be approved by the City Planning Commission (7 members appointed by mayor, 5 appointed by borough presidents) & the City Council.  The Board of Standards and Appeals (all mayoral appointees) may issue zoning variances for some specific sites with strict standards.	Proposal 2: Cut out the City Council for A.      Zoning changes that ease 100% affordable housing (like low-income co-ops). B.      Zoning changes in the 12 community districts that produced the least affordable housing in the last 5 years, to ease production of housing with Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning (about 20% affordable at different levels). FOR:  Council members in outer boroughs can’t stop affordable housing.  New housing with 20% affordability will not just be in poorer neighborhoods. The City can more easily upgrade for climate change. AGAINST: Council members lose power to negotiate better deals for neighborhoods.  Housing built in 12 districts will only be 20% affordable, and not clear at what level.
All zoning changes must be approved by the City Planning Commission and City Council	Proposal 3: Cut out the City Council for ·       Zoning changes allowing up to 30% more floor area in medium- and high-density districts like ours. ·       Zoning changes to permit climate resilience (such as sewage, solar) FOR: Easier for the City to do more climate projects, and to put in more density – which means more housing, which might mean less scarcity. AGAINST:  None of these developments must be affordable, not even including Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (about 20% affordable at varying levels).  So taller buildings may mean more affordability but it could also mean larger condos!
City Planning Commission OKs => City Council Oks => Mayor may veto => City Council can override	Proposal 4: Create Aff. Housing Appeals Board Mayor + Boro Pres  + Council Speaker.  Any two can override Council or (if Proposals 2 and 3 pass) the City Planning Commission vote.  This could only be overridden by going to court.   FOR: This eliminates one clog in the development pipeline if you’d like to see a lot more development. AGAINST: This cannot be overridden by a Council vote.  You’d have to go to court.  This does not eliminate corruption.

​​​Question 5: Instead of keeping borough maps on paper in each borough president's office, create a single digitized map and and updating it is the responsibility of  the NYC's Department of City Planning. 

​Question 6: Move City elections from odd to even years. 

FOR: More people come out to vote for Congress and President, so more people will vote altogether.  Right now, only about a quarter of voters vote in the mayoral election. 

 

AGAINST: Ballots will be a lot longer, and voters won't be able to pay attention to city issues.