New York City voters will consider several ballot proposals on Nov. 3 aimed at updating outdated and redundant permitting requirements for general construction, affordable housing and road safety projects. Advocates say the five measures, released by the city’s Commission on Government Efficiency and the New York 2026 Charter Review Commission, would reduce contractor paperwork required by city agencies and speed up road safety and air rights projects. They would also create a centralized building permit center to simplify the process.
Gary LaBarbera, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, said the “common sense” proposals will create “affordable housing and family-supporting careers for New Yorkers who need them most.”
He added, “The combination of these procedural changes and project labor agreements that ensure high-skilled work and fair wages will be an effective tool not only to provide the homes we need, but also true economic justice that allows New York’s hardest-working families to stay and thrive in the city.”
Carlo A. Scissura, president and CEO of the New York Building Congress, said outdated rules have hampered construction for a long time.
“Cutting the acquisition time for small businesses and nonprofits in half, adding a formal rainy day fund, consolidating 40 permits across 18 offices into one center, streamlining the use of public space and unlocking more than $200 million in underutilized urban property values are exactly the kinds of reforms our industry has been asking for,” he said. “These changes would mean builders spend less time navigating red tape.”
Proposals to streamline approvals, permits
Of the five ballot proposals, questions 2, 3, and 4 are most relevant to developers, contractors, and design firms working in New York City.
If approved, Question 2 would amend the city’s charter to reduce contractor paperwork by simplifying a precontract questionnaire and eliminating a mandatory hearing for a required customer services report.
Ann Cheng, executive director of the city’s commission on government efficiency, said the existing blanket questionnaire would be replaced with multiple questions tailored to the type of contract being offered. “An RFP to build a library is different than a contract to run an after-school program,” he told ENR, noting that the change would also encourage smaller construction companies to bid on city contracts. “We want more construction companies, more MWBEs to feel that bidding for city projects is within their reach and not onerous,” explains Cheng.
Question 3 would streamline the review of road safety projects to reduce construction timelines and expedite the disposition of unused urban property with planning commission approval. Cheng said that would make it easier for the city to lease air rights over municipal buildings, such as a fire station that had previously been noted. He said the process for that could currently take up to two years, discouraging developers from pursuing viable projects.
Similarly, Question 4 would create a centralized hub to streamline building permits in the city. It would move shoreline permits from the Department of Small Business Services to the Department of Buildings and allow construction approvals by additional Department of Buildings officials. Developers and builders would have a centralized online portal to review all pending building permits for their projects, instead of having to check with different city agencies.
Also under the proposal, certificates of occupancy could be approved by city officials instead of requiring input from city-level building departments. That’s a big change, based on feedback from affordable housing developers, Cheng says. “In spite of [a city-level official] knowing your project well, you still have to go to the municipal level for final sign-off.” The proposal would empower the city’s building commissioner to allow DOB officials to perform this task.
Kirk Goodrich, president of Monadnock Development, said existing bureaucracy is “one of the biggest barriers to building affordable housing,” more than financing or construction.
“Every month that multi-agency approvals are missed is another month that families wait for desperately needed housing,” he said. “Creating a single, coordinated permitting process is exactly the kind of government reform that helps build good projects faster without lowering standards.”
