NYC Council Leadership Calls on Board of Elections to Reject Three of Mayor Adams’ Ballot Proposals for Using Language That Seeks to Deceive Voters by Concealing Their Effect, Violating State Law

 

Submitted ballot language hides proposals’ fundamental changes to remove New Yorkers’ power and voice in public land use decisions, which undermines neighborhood residents’ ability to secure more affordable housing and community benefits  

Today, leaders from both the Majority and Minority conferences of the New York City Council urged the New York City Board of Elections (BOE) to reject three ballot proposals (Proposals 2, 3 and 4) submitted by Mayor Eric Adams’ Charter Revision Commission for the 2025 General Election, due to their deceptive and inaccurate language making them noncompliant with state law. In a letter to BOE commissioners, the request for the proposals’ rejection highlights that New York State Municipal Home Rule Law requires that referenda “clearly … indicate the effect of their approval.” However, the language for these three proposals fails to disclose that they eliminate the voting authority of the City Council on a range of public land use decisions, which is currently the only vote by democratically elected representatives within the process. They would shift authority for land use decisions from the democratically elected City Council to unelected appointees, the majority of whom are chosen by the mayor. Yet, neither the proposals’ questions nor their associated abstracts that voters will encounter on their election ballots clearly state these major changes. 

The misleading nature of Mayor Adams’ ballot proposal language leaves voters without a clear understanding of the implications of their decisions and therefore, fails to meet statutory requirements and a basic commitment to democracy that respects voters’ informed consent and will. 

“When New York City voters weigh in on ballot questions this November, they deserve to know the impact of their decision in clear and honest terms,” said Speaker Adrienne Adams. “Mayor Adams’ ballot questions 2, 3, and 4 attempt to mislead voters by hiding their real impact of eliminating the public’s power over land use decisions that allow new development. This major change to remove the only democratically elected entity with voting power in the land use process undermines New Yorkers’ ability to secure more affordable housing and investments for their neighborhoods. The Board of Elections should protect voters and voting rights by rejecting Mayor Adams’ ballot proposals 2, 3, and 4 for intentionally concealing their impact from voters at the ballot.” 

The full letter can be accessed here. 

The letter states: “When the City Board of Elections makes its upcoming Election Law Section 4-114 determination of the November 2025 ballot, it must reject these three ballot questions based on the law. In particular, the three questions fail to inform voters that the ballot proposals will completely eliminate the City Council’s existing authority on behalf of the public to approve or modify a wide range of land use proposals.” 

“Questions 2, 3, and 4 must be rejected for placement on the November ballot because their primary impact is being hidden from voters, undermining the franchise,” the letter continues. “Failing to disclose this information is no small omission. It is not fair to ask New Yorkers to vote on such major changes to a significant democratic process without ever actually telling them what they are voting to change in accurate and clear terms. The Board of Elections has an essential responsibility and role in ensuring that voters are not misled here.” 

The letter indicates: “New York Courts have upheld Board of Election Commissioners’ ability to exercise that power where proposed ballot questions are unclear about a crucial aspect of a proposed ballot initiative. Lenihan v. Blackwell, 209 A.D.2d 1048, 1049 (4th Dep’t 1994).” 

For 35 years, New Yorkers have relied on the City Council’s role as the only democratically elected body with the power to vote on local land use decisions. This authority ensures that communities have a voice in shaping development in their neighborhoods, and it has been leveraged to win deeper affordability in new housing and secure investments that strengthen neighborhoods across the city, including for schools, childcare centers, parks, open space, public transit, and core infrastructure needs. These potential ballot proposals would remove the democratically elected Council from the process and undermine its work on behalf of the public to secure critical benefits from the City and developers for neighborhoods as part of approved development. The attempted refusal to inform New York City voters about the choice before them is an intentional deception and shameful disregard of democracy by Mayor Adams and his Commission, which must be rejected.