Paul Graziano, September 30, 2025

Dozens of Civic Organizations, Elected Officials, and Residents Across the City to Announce Lawsuit Against the Charter Revision Commission’s Proposals to Radically Change the City’s Land Use Process!

What We Are Fighting Against

The Charter Revision Commission was announced by Mayor Adams exactly 4 days after the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity was passed – with great fanfare – by the City Council in December 2024. Adams stated that the focus of the Commission was on land use as a “follow up” to the City of Yes; this is perhaps the understatement of the year, as the intent of the three ballot questions is to eviscerate over 50 years of planning, land use policy and environmental law and hand the keys to the city of to Mayor Adams’ developer friends with no recourse for the public.

Question #2 will target the 12 Community Boards across the city with the least number of affordable housing units and “fast-track” so-called affordable housing development – any density – in those areas by taking away the City Council vote entirely; shortening Community Board participation by 30 days; and allowing either the City Planning Commission or Board of Standards and Appeals – both controlled by the Mayor – to decide where and how much can be built. This will be on a permanent rolling basis, so the bottom 12 Community Boards will be reassessed every five years and targeted accordingly. Note: this ballot question is an *exact* duplicate of one of the centerpiece proposals of Corey Johnson’s “Planning Together” scheme of 2021-2022 that we defeated before it ever got off the ground.

Question #3 will allow for “modest” increases in development across the city through a new process called the Expedited Land Use Review Procedure (ELURP). It will allow for 45 foot tall apartment buildings at a 2.0 FAR in all R1 through R5 zones (it’s the equivalent of R5 zoning) but clearly targets low-density one and two-family neighborhoods. In zoning that’s R6 and above, a 30% increase in height and density would be allowed – not “modest” at all. Again, the City Council would be removed from the process and the Community Board review period shortened, consolidating power in the Mayor’s hands.

Question #4 will simply destroy “member deference” or the custom of Councilmembers respecting the wishes of their colleagues when it comes to local issues within their districts, particularly those related to land use and zoning. This would be done by re-creating the former Board of Estimate, which had the power to overturn land use and zoning decisions by the City Council until 1989, when it was found to be unconstitutional by the Federal government. The new board – the Zoning Board of Appeals – would be a reconstituted Board of Estimate, with the power to overturn a “NO” vote by the City Council on a land use or zoning item in a local Council district (as opposed to a citywide change).

These questions, should they pass, will wipe out the ability for communities and their elected representatives to defend themselves in any way.

Why We Are Filing a Lawsuit

In Mayor Adams’ haste to ram these changes on to the ballot to satisfy his donors, real estate and developer friends before Election Day, he and his hand-picked Commission decided to violate New York State Law under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) and the New York City equivalent (CEQR) by not filing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), not distributing it to the public and not allowing for a public comment period as required PRIOR to any vote being taken by the Commission. This situation cannot be “cured” by completing the EIS, distributing it and allowing for public comment after the fact.

If we do not file this lawsuit, the subsequent adoption of these ballot questions without following State Law would have the immediate effect of undermining environmental laws across New York. Other municipalities and even the State government could point to this precedent to convince the court system that filing of an EIS mandating appropriate mitigation, consideration of alternatives and public disclosure of significant negative environmental impacts alongside public commentary are no longer necessary.

We find these ballot questions to be horrific, anti-environment, anti-community, anti-democratic and ethically bankrupt. These provisions are destructive to the fundamental fabric of New York City neighborhoods. We are a city of over 350 neighborhoods, each different from the other. These ballot provisions seek to transform New York City into a land use mayoral autocracy. We are calling on the courts to invalidate the ballot questions for not following New York State Environmental Law and procedures. Should we be successful, the ballot questions will be invalidated. The text may remain on the ballot due to the fact that they have already been printed, but the results of the vote should they be approved, can be annulled by the Court due to the ballot’s illegality.

When We are Filing a Lawsuit

Our window to file is extremely small. We plan on filing this lawsuit in the week of September 29^th, 2025, as we want to make sure it is in the court system before voting begins – early voting starts on October 23^rd, so it’s important that we get in front of this.

Press Conference in Support of the Lawsuit

We will be having a Press Conference on the steps of City Hall on Tuesday, September 30^th at 12pm (high noon!).  Please attend, bring signs and supporters!  An official press release/flyer will follow this email at some point this weekend.