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Question 3 passes, giving the City Planning Commission the final say on some land deals. The Council vets five commissioners Monday

The street safety and city property measure won 65.7% in unofficial results. The Council's Rules Committee takes up Mayor Mamdani's five planning commission nominees on Nov. 9.

By NYC Politics staffUpdated

Rules Committee Chair Sandra Ung (District 20), whose committee takes up the City Planning Commission nominees on Nov. 9
Rules Committee Chair Sandra Ung (District 20), whose committee takes up the City Planning Commission nominees on Nov. 9New York City Council

Question 3, which speeds reviews of street safety projects, shortens the process for selling small city-owned lots and changes how the city leases offices, passed with 65.7% of the vote. The count was 1,133,761 yes to 591,982 no as of 12:42 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 4, according to the Board of Elections' unofficial results.

Why it matters to residents: the measure moves some decisions about city land from the City Council to the City Planning Commission, the 13-member body that votes on land-use applications before they reach the Council. The people who sit on that commission now matter more, and five of them are before the Council right now.

What the measure does

According to amNY's guide, Question 3:

  • speeds reviews of bus lane, bike lane and other street safety projects;
  • shortens land-use review for certain small city-owned lots and gives the City Planning Commission, not the Council, the final decision on those sales and some transfers of development rights;
  • lets the Department of Citywide Administrative Services lease offices with fewer reviews, reducing Council oversight of some leases.

The commission's executive director, Ann Cheng, said at an October talk that the measure would limit lawsuits that challenge street projects over minor paperwork errors, Streetsblog reported. The Municipal Art Society opposed the question, amNY reported.

By borough, yes won 71.0% in the Bronx, 70.7% in Manhattan, 65.8% in Brooklyn and 63.9% in Queens. Staten Island voted no, with 44.7% yes, according to the borough breakdown.

What our records add

Five planning commission picks are in committee. Mayor Zohran Mamdani sent five City Planning Commission nominations to the Council on Oct. 22, and the Committee on Rules, Privileges, Elections, Standards and Ethics, chaired by Sandra Ung, has them on its Nov. 9 agenda:

The commission's role was already growing before Tuesday. Charter changes voters approved last year give it final approval over qualifying affordable housing projects in 12 "fast track" community districts starting in January, as we reported when the nominations arrived. This term, the Council has approved every Mamdani nominee that reached a floor vote, though several drew "no" votes.

A member warned about the Transportation Department's added authority. At the Oct. 27 Transportation Committee hearing, Council Member Eric Dinowitz told department officials that if the ballot proposals passed they would be given more authority. He said requests for a speed hump and an all-way stop had gone more than a month without a response.

A Council bill on city land sales is waiting. Int. 650, from Lincoln Restler with 19 co-sponsors and the Brooklyn borough president, would require the city to give priority to nonprofit developers and community land trusts when it sells land for affordable housing or other public uses, according to the bill's plain-language summary. It has been in the Housing and Buildings Committee since Feb. 12, 265 days, without a hearing. Question 3 changes who approves some of those sales. It does not decide who the city sells to.

What's next

The Rules Committee meets Monday, Nov. 9, at 10 a.m. City Limits reported that the Council has 30 days after a nomination is formally submitted to act, which points to the Nov. 12 or Nov. 19 stated meeting. The Board of Elections will certify the Question 3 result after the remaining ballots are counted. The official text, including when each part takes effect, is on the Charter Revision Commission's site.