N.Y.C. Elections Board May Block Ballot Proposals on Housing

A showdown over who should have the most sway over new development in New York — the City Council or City Hall — has been brewing for months. But the Council may have found an edge: the Board of Elections, whose members are appointed by the Council, could decide to deny voters an opportunity to give the mayor more authority.

A push gaining steam among members of the elections board would prevent voters in November from weighing in on three ballot measures that would curtail the Council’s power over new development, according to two people familiar with the board’s conversations.

The measures, written by a special panel Mayor Eric Adams created last year, were designed to help ease the city’s housing shortage by diminishing an unofficial veto power that Council members hold over housing projects.

In a letter dated Aug. 28, the Council asked the 10 members of the board not to allow the measures to appear on the ballot, saying that their wording did not make it clear that Council members’ power was being reduced or eliminated.



https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/04/nyregion/charter-revision-nyc-housing.html