NYC residents will vote on these 6 ballot proposals in November

New York City residents will vote on six proposals, including one state-wide constitutional amendment, in November. The state-wide constitutional amendment, proposed by Democrats in the state Legislature, looks to make permanent protections on reproductive health rights and prohibit discrimination based on gender. Supporters largely view the amendment as a protection of access to safe abortions, but opponents say it’s a political ploy that goes too far. 

The five other proposals are New York City-level and are the product of a commission that was convened by New York City Mayor Eric Adams. A couple of them would give more political authority to the mayor. Adams has frequently clashed with the City Council over the council’s jurisdiction on certain city policies and administrative appointments. 

Here’s what New Yorkers will see when they flip their ballot. 

The Equal Rights Amendment

The state-level Equal Rights Amendment, also referred to as Proposition 1, would enshrine a variety of protections in the state constitution, with supporters focusing heavily on abortion rights. It would prevent discrimination based on pregnancy, pregnancy outcome and reproductive health decisions, although the word “abortion” won’t appear on the ballot. The passage of the ERA would also protect residents on the basis of gender identity, age and sexual orientation, among other identities. The measure appears before voters this November after state lawmakers approved it twice, and following an unsuccessful lawsuit from Republicans attempting to remove it. 

The ERA’s journey to the ballot has been tense, and it’s become something of a political lightning rod. 

Republican lawmakers have attacked its protections for transgender individuals, and they have claimed it will be used to allow noncitizens to vote, though that’s not part of the amendment. Republicans criticize the ERA due to their vision of “protecting girls’ sports” and parents’ rights, according to the state GOP website. Republicans also say the ERA would encourage young men to enter women-only spaces and allow young people to seek out gender-affirming surgery as minors without parental consent.

Opponents also said abortion rights are not under attack in New York, and have criticized Democrats for campaigning on abortion protections in the state purely for political gain to increase voter turnout.  

Though the right to an abortion has been limited in some parts of the country with the overturning of Roe v. Wade, New York was largely unaffected by the Supreme Court decision last summer.

Citywide ballot proposals

Like the ERA, the citywide ballot proposals also have a complicated backstory. The five proposals come amid arguments between Adams and the City Council over whose responsibility it is to approve appointed officials. 

Around the same time the City Council began considering legislation to expand their authority over Adams’ appointments, Adams convened a Charter Revision Commission. The commission had the opportunity to change the city governing document by putting new proposals on the ballot with public input. The last time a mayor convened a Charter Revision Commission was in 2018 under former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration. Ranked-choice voting in local elections came as a result of the commission.

Adams denied creating the commission to bump the City Council’s proposals off the ballot, but that is exactly what it did. Understanding that context, here’s what the proposals would do.  

Clean streets

This proposal would expand the city Department of Sanitation’s jurisdiction to maintain cleanliness of the city’s streets. The proposal, if passed, would look like increased sanitation authority over city-owned property, stronger enforcements on street vending and additional requirements for New Yorkers when taking their trash out. Currently, the Department of Sanitation only has jurisdiction over some city-owned properties, and the new proposal would expand their jurisdiction and extend street vending policies to parks and other sites beyond streets and sidewalks. The proposal also asks DSNY to regulate which containers residents can use to take their trash out – furthering the mayor’s “containerization” initiative. That basically means he wants New Yorkers to start using trash cans rather than putting their trash bags directly on the sidewalk.

Fiscal responsibility

This proposal would require City Council to publish “fiscal impact statements” before hearings on proposed legislation to estimate how much a proposed law would cost the city to enforce. The updated “fiscal impact statements” would give more time to the public to assess the monetary impact of a bill. The proposal would also require council members to give Adams an eight-day notice for a public hearing or full vote on new legislation in order for the mayor’s Office of Management and Budget to have time to publish its own cost estimate. The proposal also calls for an extension of the preliminary budget deadline two weeks to Feb. 1 and the executive budget submission one week to May 1 in years following a mayoral election to allocate more time to new mayoral teams to decide their budgets. The City Council is not happy about this proposal, saying it’s a power grab from the mayor to give him more oversight of their legislation.

Public safety

This proposal would require the City Council to give a 30-day notice before hosting a hearing on public safety-related issues. (The City Council says their hearings are usually posted about that far in advance anyway.) The proposal leaves room for the mayor to host their own public hearings on those issues and impose additional requirements for council members when considering legislation related to the New York City Police Department, the Department of Correction and the Fire Department. This proposal is also opposed by the City Council, who say it’s an overreach from the mayor, even though the Charter Revision Commission ultimately scaled it back from a more onerous requirement. The proposal follows a battle over City Council legislation that would increase reporting requirements for NYPD officers called the How Many Stops Act. The mayor vetoed the bill, and the City Council overrode his veto.

Capital planning

This proposal would add additional steps into the city’s capital planning process by requiring the city to publish additional information about infrastructure and facilities’ repair needs in the annual Statement of Needs report. The proposal would also tweak the process for the 10-Year Capital Strategy, which comes out every other year, aligning it with the city capital planning process. 

MWBEs and modernization

This proposal is a mix of a few different things. It would formalize the position of the Chief Business Diversity Officer and outline the CBDO’s responsibilities to support the city’s minority- and women-owned businesses. Their new responsibilities would include assessing the effectiveness of city policies in supporting MWBEs, including making new policy changes if needed. Adams created the CBDO position last year and the current CBDO is Michael Garner, former Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer of the Metropolitan Transit Authority. The proposal would also give permission to the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment to issue film permits. It would also combine two Charter-created boards responsible for reviewing municipal archival documents.