Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s government-efficiency panel unanimously approved five proposed City Charter changes for the November ballot Thursday evening, setting up a citywide vote on efforts to speed up outdoor dining approvals, construction permitting, street projects and other government processes.
But the final package drew criticism from two directions, with the City Council warning that the commission moved too quickly and risked weakening public oversight, while policy groups that support the broader effort said several proposals did not go far enough.
The Commission on Government Efficiency, known as COGE, approved each question 15-0. Commissioners also unanimously adopted the final report and directed staff to file the ballot materials with the city clerk during the commission’s final meeting in Manhattan.
The measures heading for the ballot would streamline approvals for outdoor dining and other uses of public space; revise city contracting rules; accelerate certain street safety projects, property transactions and office leases; create a centralized construction-permitting hub; and establish a 12% target for the city’s rainy day fund.
Several would also eliminate mandatory hearings or remove City Council review from parts of those processes.
COGE said it developed the package after holding 10 public hearings across the five boroughs, attended by more than 1,200 people. The commission said 264 people testified live and that it received more than 600 written submissions.
The Council nevertheless raised concerns about both the speed of the process and the potential effect of the proposals on public oversight after Thursday’s vote.
“The Council is concerned by the speed and process through which the Administration advanced these Charter Revision Commission proposals,” a Council spokesperson said in a statement.
The spokesperson said the commission developed “a series of sweeping changes to City government” in a matter of weeks, with possible consequences for oversight, transparency and public accountability. Several proposals, the spokesperson added, could reduce New Yorkers’ input and weaken longstanding checks and balances.
The Council did not call for voters to reject the questions, saying its responsibility is to ensure New Yorkers understand their potential effects before casting ballots in November.
Even some COGE commissioners acknowledged the limits of the package. Henry Garrido, executive director of District Council 37, called the ballot questions “a great start” but said, “there’s more work to be done.”
Kathryn Wylde, the former president of the Partnership for New York City, called the reforms “important, but they are incremental.” She said state laws and regulations, along with outdated city technology systems, remain major barriers to making government more efficient.
“The two things that stuck out to me as frustrations: number one, so much of the mechanics of New York, whether it is procurement or civil service or withdrawals from the rainy day fund are dictated by state law and regulation,” she said. “I think in Governor Hochul, we have a good partner to tackle this, but it’s going to take a very comprehensive effort to do that.”
City Hall had already begun making the case for the proposals before the vote, circulating a lengthy collection of supportive statements Thursday from small-business owners, nonprofit leaders, housing developers and public-space advocates.
Separately, housing and public-space groups welcomed several of the final proposals.
Open New York Executive Director Annemarie Gray praised the centralized permitting hub, which would bring together 40 construction approvals now scattered across 18 offices and agencies. She also welcomed the faster review of certain small surplus lots and plans to make it easier to sell unused development rights from city-owned landmarks.
“The need to build housing in this city has never been more urgent, and it’s encouraging to see an administration treating that urgency as a management problem it can actually solve,” Gray said.
Open Plans applauded the outdoor dining measure, which would combine separate sidewalk cafe and roadway dining applications while removing mandatory hearings and some related costs.
The group said financial and administrative barriers have limited participation, particularly in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. It also urged the Council to make roadway dining permanently available year-round.
Vital City, a policy publication that supports passage of all five questions, argued that several should have been more ambitious.
Its analysis said the permitting proposal would give applicants a common portal but leave individual agencies in control of their own approvals and schedules. It also said the contracting measure lacks enforceable deadlines for registering contracts and paying vendors, while the outdoor dining question keeps businesses in the revocable-consent system rather than moving them to standard permits.
Vital City was more favorable toward the street safety measure, saying it could expedite roadway redesigns and save lives. But it described the overall package as an early step in a much longer effort to improve government performance.
The sharpest policy criticism focused on the rainy day fund.
That question would set a target equal to 12% of city tax revenue from the previous fiscal year and require the Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget, in consultation with the comptroller, to develop a methodology governing deposits while reserves remain below that level.
Comptroller Mark Levine had recommended a 16% target. Ahead of the final vote, he called COGE’s proposal a “significant step” but said key details remained unresolved, including the rules governing deposits and withdrawals and what qualifies as a reserve fund.
The Citizens Budget Commission issued a sharper response after the measure passed.
“As written, City policy could allow withdrawals for practically any reason and avoid deposits even when revenues are strong,” CBC President Andrew Rein said.
Rein said the amendment would still leave the administration free to adopt stronger rules requiring deposits during good economic years and limiting withdrawals to recessions or severe emergencies.
The final package also left out open primaries, despite extensive testimony from unaffiliated voters and advocacy organizations during the hearing process.
COGE’s report said election changes did not fit neatly within its government-efficiency focus and could be considered by a future charter commission. The commission said it heard substantial support for opening primaries, along with arguments that doing so would not necessarily increase turnout or participation.
Jeremy Gruber, senior vice president of Open Primaries, told amNewYork he did not believe the issue received serious consideration.
“If you want to talk about efficiencies, the most inefficient system we have is our closed primary election in New York City,” Gruber said.
He said Open Primaries would not challenge COGE in court and has not endorsed one specific replacement model, but that the group plans to continue organizing unaffiliated voters and seeking a meeting with Mamdani.
“If you’ve been an independent voter in New York City for some time, you’re used to being disappointed,” Gruber said. “This commission is no different, but you’re also used to continuing to fight.”
COGE will transition after the November election into an advisory board that will continue gathering ideas from New Yorkers and advising the mayor on government efficiency reforms.
“There is no doubt we have more work to do,” Commissioner Carlina Rivera said. She said the new board would meet regularly and be supported by staff and City Hall resources to “continue the thoughtful work of this independent body.”
