NYC Ballot Proposals Passed in Tuesday’s Election to Go Into Effect

New York City voters approved Tuesday five ballot proposals crafted by Mamdani administration appointees to speed up development and give restaurants more leeway in serving food and drink outdoors.

While the post-election focus has been on the landslide to the left in states such as Texas, Kansas and Georgia, commercial real estate developers and operators in New York City will see some benefits from more efficient processes for approving outdoor dining and a centralized processing center for some construction projects.

Most of the outdoor dining change goes into effect March 1, those pertaining to sales and waterfront construction will be made effective Dec. 31, 2030.

Mitchell Korbey, partner and chair of the land use and zoning group at Herrick, was particularly enthusiastic about Proposals 3 and 4. The measures are designed to speed up safety reviews, fast-track the sale of city-owned land, simplify the construction permit process, and otherwise remove speed bumps on the road to development.

“This will unlock opportunities that otherwise take considerable time given the current requirement for uniform land use review procedure (ULURP),” Korbey said. “For Proposal 4, shifting authority to the Department of Buildings (DOB) represents a far more efficient process and more expert and logical method for reviewing — resulting in time savings and greater predictability.”

Mayor Zohran Mamdani launched an individual campaign to get the word out on these proposals in September after the commission approved them in July.

“New Yorkers voted for a government that moves as fast as they do,” Mamdani said in a statement Tuesday night. “From opening outdoor dining faster to speeding up street safety projects to accelerating housing production, we are cutting red tape that will directly address the affordability crisis and help New Yorkers stay in the city they love. Now comes the work of turning these votes into results.”

Proposal 1 aims to speed up the process for using public spaces. For restaurants that want to add outdoor dining, applicants will no longer need to go through multiple levels of review — including from the New York City Department of Transportation or the Office of Technology and Innovation — or face community boards or New York City Council hearings.

Under the new rules by the Commission on Government Efficiency going into effect  March 1, 2027, applicants need only be approved by one of these agencies. Council hearings will be optional, and local lawmakers will no longer have the power to reject those permits.

Proposal 3 helps the city to sell and lease city-owned smaller lots, or to grant development rights for landmarked properties, at a faster rate. To help do that, it allows these deals to bypass the seven-month ULURP review by the Department of Citywide Administrative Services replacing it with the expedited land use review procedure (ELURP).

That property can now be sold without an auction or further City Council hearings apart from the initial approval by council members to sell the land in the first place.

ELURP was adopted by voters in last year’s November election and was developed by appointees of then-Mayor Eric Adams.

On the development side, industry leaders looking to launch new construction will no longer need to submit documents to multiple agencies and separate systems; it will all go through the DOB as the central hub of approval.

Even waterfront permitting, which is currently approved by the New York City Department of Small Business Services, will be moved to the DOB.

“We look forward to working with those elected yesterday to advance policies that create more housing, strengthen New York’s economy and build on the efforts to streamline government resoundingly approved by voters,” James Whelan, president of the Real Estate Board of New York, said in a statement.

Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.