Gothamist, David Brand, Jan 27, 2026

The city’s five borough presidents now wield more power over housing decisions than they have had in decades — and some are already strategizing for how to transform what was a largely ceremonial role into a final authority on what gets built and where.

Voters last November approved a ballot measure that establishes a three-member appeals board — made up of the mayor, city council speaker and local borough president — with the power to overturn Council land use votes that kill or modify housing plans. The referendum restored tangible land use powers to the borough president for the first time in nearly 40 years and upended the city’s review process, which gave tremendous influence to individual councilmembers and typically ended with binding Council votes.

Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso on Tuesday unveiled a complex rubric to guide his decision-making for when a developer appeals to the newly created panel. Three others say they will take a “case-by-case” approach to potential projects that come before them, with an eye toward areas producing few new homes.

”There is a housing crisis and we cannot solve a crisis on a community-by-community basis,” Reynoso said. “Whatever we’re doing to get us out of this crisis needs to be all-hands-on-deck.”

Reynoso, who is also running to replace retiring Rep. Nydia Velazquez in Congress later this year, said his guide is an attempt to “depoliticize” housing issues and instead base his votes on where homes are being built, and where they are not.

“How we come to this decision is universal,” he said. “The formula is the formula.”

Read More: Gothamist