New York, New York, Question 4, Affordable Housing Appeals Board Charter Amendment (November 2025)

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New York Question 4

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Election date

November 4, 2025

Topic
City governance and Local charter amendments
Status

ApprovedApproved

Type
Referral


New York Question 4 was on the ballot as a referral in New York on November 4, 2025. It was approved.

A "yes" vote supported creating an Affordable Housing Appeals Board, consisting of the Borough President, Speaker of the City Council, and Mayor, which would have the power to review and reverse decisions by the city council that disapprove and modify land-use applications that directly facilitate the creation of affordable housing.

A "no" vote opposed creating an Affordable Housing Appeals Board, consisting of the Borough President, Speaker of the City Council, and Mayor, which would have the power to review and reverse decisions by the city council that disapprove and modify land-use applications that directly facilitate the creation of affordable housing.


A simple majority was required to approve the measure.

Election results

New York Question 4

Result Votes Percentage

Approved Yes

1,085,599 58.45%
No 771,565 41.55%
Results are officially certified.
Source


Overview

What was the Affordable Housing Appeals Board?

The amendment changed the city’s land use review process (ULURP) for affordable housing projects by replacing the mayor’s veto authority with a new Affordable Housing Appeals Board. Under this charter amendment, the board is composed of three elected officials — the mayor, the speaker of the City Council, and the borough president of the borough where the project is located. Any decision by the Board required at least two of the three members to agree.[1]

Under this amendment, the board could review City Council decisions on land use applications that directly facilitate affordable housing, such as projects subject to the city’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing policy. This only applies to applications within a single borough, not to citywide changes or projects spanning multiple boroughs. The Board is able to reverse a Council disapproval or undo modifications to restore a proposal to the form previously approved by the City Planning Commission. It cannot create new modifications. If the Board does not act within required deadlines, the Council’s decision remains in place.[1]

Measure design

Click on the following sections for summaries of the different provisions of the ballot measure.[1]


Expand All
Create an Affordable Housing Appeals Board
Eliminate mayoral veto power in ULURP for affordable housing projects
Scope of cases subject to Board review
Review procedures and limits on Board power


Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title for Question 4 was as follows:

“

Proposed Charter Amendment: Establish an Affordable Housing Appeals Board with Council, Borough, and Citywide Representation

Establish an Affordable Housing Appeals Board with the Council Speaker, local Borough President, and Mayor to review Council actions that reject or change applications creating affordable housing.

“Yes” creates the three-member Affordable Housing Appeals Board to reflect Council, borough, and citywide perspectives. “No” leaves affordable housing subject to the Mayor’s veto and final decision by City Council.

”

Full Text

The full text of this measure is available here.


Support

Supporters

Officials

Candidates

Organizations

  • Abundance New York
  • Anti-Discrimination Center
  • Citizens Budget Commission
  • Citizens Housing and Planning Council
  • Dattner Architects
  • Open New York
  • Regional Plan Association

Arguments

  • New York City Charter Revision Commission: "Question #4 would Establish an Affordable Housing Appeals Board with Council, Borough, and Citywide Representation so that affordable housing that is downsized or rejected has another chance at success in the city’s land use process, and important affordable housing projects are considered by a group with a broad set of perspectives. The Affordable Housing Appeals Board is designed to strike a better balance between local, borough, and citywide voices. The Board would be made up of the Borough President of the affected borough, the Speaker of the City Council, and the Mayor. The Board would have the power to reverse City Council decisions that reject or modify land use applications that create affordable housing—but only if two out of these three democratically elected officials agree. ULURP would otherwise remain the same, from Community Board review through consideration by the Council. The Appeals Board would replace the Mayor’s power to veto applications related to affordable housing."
  • Citizens Budget Commission: "Adding an appeals process to ULURP would maintain the important role of the City Council in the land use decision-making process, while encouraging greater balance of citywide needs and neighborhood concerns. The City Council’s tradition of member deference has sometimes resulted in local concerns, especially local resistance to development, overriding citywide need to build more housing for everyone in all neighborhoods. The appeal process might encourage the City Council to bring more projects to a vote rather than allow them to be withdrawn in the face of defeat due to member deference. More projects coming to a vote at the City Council could encourage more applications to come forward, since in some cases, well-considered projects are never proposed due to member deference."
  • Gov. Kathy Hochul (D): "Affordability is my number one priority, and that starts with housing. The cost of living is too damn high – especially when it comes to the sky-high rents and mortgages families pay every month. The only solution to New York’s housing crisis is to build more housing, and we must use every tool in the toolbox to get it done. Props 2-5 will help ensure New Yorkers can live, thrive, and raise their families in the city they call home. It’s time to say yes to more homes, lower costs, and a stronger future for New York families."

Opposition

Opponents

Officials

Unions

  • 32BJ SEIU
  • District Council of Carpenters
  • Hotel and Gaming Trades Council

Arguments

  • New York City Councilmembers Adrienne Adams, Diana Ayala, Amanda Farías, Joann Ariola: "Questions 2, 3 and 4 fail to inform voters that, if enacted, they would put a wide range of land use decisions in the hands of mayoral appointees. This would eliminate the City Council’s voting power, and would remove the ability of communities to negotiate investments and public benefits into their neighborhoods through the Council’s power."
  • New York City Cm. Robert Holden (D): "New York needs housing built with trust, transparency, and strong conflict of interest rules, not another venue to rubber stamp bad projects."


Campaign finance

See also: Campaign finance requirements for New York ballot measures
The campaign finance information on this page reflects the most recent scheduled reports that Ballotpedia has processed, which covered through October 20, 2025. The deadline for the next scheduled reports was December 1, 2025.


Yes on Affordable Housing was the campaign registered in support of the charter amendment.[2]

Ballotpedia did not identify a ballot measure committee registered to oppose the ballot measure.[2]

Cash Contributions In-Kind Contributions Total Contributions Cash Expenditures Total Expenditures
Support $1,389,675.00 $0.00 $1,389,675.00 $202,362.33 $202,362.33
Oppose $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
Total $1,389,675.00 $0.00 $1,389,675.00 $202,362.33 $202,362.33

Support

The following table includes contribution and expenditure totals for the committees in support of the measure.[2]

Committees in support of Question 4
Committee Cash Contributions In-Kind Contributions Total Contributions Cash Expenditures Total Expenditures
Yes on Affordable Housing $1,389,675.00 $0.00 $1,389,675.00 $202,362.33 $202,362.33
Total $1,389,675.00 $0.00 $1,389,675.00 $202,362.33 $202,362.33

Donors

The following were the top donors to the committee.[2]

Donor Cash Contributions In-Kind Contributions Total Contributions
Open New York $400,000.00 $0.00 $400,000.00
Action Now, Inc. $250,000.00 $0.00 $250,000.00
Lisa Primus $250,000.00 $0.00 $250,000.00
Jamie Rubin $120,000.00 $0.00 $120,000.00
Chloe Phitouissi $100,000.00 $0.00 $100,000.00

Media editorials

See also: 2025 ballot measure media endorsements

Support

The following media editorial boards published an editorial supporting the ballot measure:

  • New York Daily News Editorial Board: "The lack of affordable housing in the five boroughs is an emergency, like a raging fire, and decisive action is needed immediately. The Council has specialized in stalling and killing development and they must lose that power. The public, not the pols, will have the final say with the trio of ballot proposals. Proposal 2 would move affordable housing plans faster through the approval process instead of the seven months now required. Proposal 3 creates a faster review system for smaller land use projects and Proposal 4 has a new appeals structure, where the Council retains a role, but not sole discretion, to sign off on a rezoning. The Council has been wielding that power irresponsibly, which they politely call “member deference,” but we correctly label it as “local veto” over entire developments with hundreds or even thousands of units. That obstinance has to end and it will when the three amendments are made to the City Charter. As for the Council’s improper electioneering, the mailers are sent, setting a terrible precedent, but the voters should set a better one by passing Proposals 2, 3 and 4."


Opposition

Ballotpedia did not locate media editorial boards in opposition to the ballot measure.

Background

Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP)

As of 2025, New York City's Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) was the formal review process for major land use changes. It was established in the City Charter in 1975 to standardize and democratize how rezonings, site selections, and other significant land-use actions are decided. ULURP governed changes such as large rezonings, dispositions of city-owned land, certain affordable housing developments, and certain infrastructure projects.[3]

Once an application was approved by the Department of City Planning, it went through a seven-month period of review. First, the Community Board had 60 days to hold a hearing and issue an advisory recommendation. Next, the Borough President had 30 days to advise the decision. The City Planning Commission then had 60 days to vote on whether to approve, modify, or deny the application. If it passed, the City Council had up to 50 days to consider it. The Mayor could veto a Council approval, although the Council could override that veto with a two-thirds vote.[3]

Housing production in New York City

According to the Charter Revision Commission report published in July 2025, 25,000 homes were built in New York City each year, but that this was half of what the city needed. The Commission estimated that "over the next ten years, the city is about 500,000 homes short of a healthy housing market, where costs are stable, families and individuals have options, and the city and its economy have room to grow and change over time." The Commission also noted that the building of housing is uneven, with 12 community districts adding as much housing as 47 combined.[3]

Path to the ballot

This measure was put on the ballot through a vote of the New York City Charter Revision Commission.

How to cast a vote

See also: Voting in New York

See below to learn more about current voter registration rules, identification requirements, and poll times in New York.

How to vote in New York


See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 NewYorkCity.gov, "Text of charter amendments," accessed September 29, 2025
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 New York City Campaign Finance Board, "Homepage," accessed June 17, 2025
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 NYC Charter, "CHARTER REVISION COMMISSION Adopted Final Report," July 21, 2025
  4. ↑ The New York State Senate, "N.Y. Election Law § 8-100," accessed December 12, 2025
  5. ↑ New York State Board of Elections, "Know Your Rights," accessed December 12, 2025
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 New York State Board of Elections, “Voter Registration Process,” accessed December 12, 2025
  7. ↑ New York State Board of Elections, “Registration and Voting Deadlines,” accessed December 12, 2025
  8. ↑ New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, “Register to Vote Online - Electronic Voter Registration Application,” accessed December 12, 2025
  9. ↑ Albany Times-Union, "New York's automatic voter registration launch will be more than 2 years late," December 29, 2024
  10. ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Same-Day Voter Registration," accessed December 12, 2025
  11. ↑ New York State Board of Elections, "New York State Voter Registration Form," accessed December 12, 2025
  12. ↑ Under federal law, the national mail voter registration application (a version of which is in use in all states with voter registration systems) requires applicants to indicate that they are U.S. citizens in order to complete an application to vote in state or federal elections, but does not require voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the application "may require only the minimum amount of information necessary to prevent duplicate voter registrations and permit State officials both to determine the eligibility of the applicant to vote and to administer the voting process."
  13. ↑ Florida's law takes effect on January 1, 2027
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Board of Elections in the City of New York, "Voter ID," accessed December 12, 2025
  15. ↑ Congress, "H.R.3295 - Help America Vote Act of 2002," accessed September 30, 2025
  16. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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