Big Apple voters approved all five ballot proposals what they mean for NYers

New Yorkers voted in favor of five ballot proposals selected by Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s handpicked commission that will rewrite City Hall’s rulebook, including measures to speed up approvals for street safety projects and outdoor dining sheds.Follow for live updates on the 2026 Midterm ElectionsThe proposals were developed by the 15-member Commission on Government Efficiency, or COGE, appointed by Mamdani after he opted to dissolve the charter commission left by his predecessor former Mayor Eric Adams.Mamdani said he voted yes on all five — but some neighborhood groups opposed all of them — with the United Neighbors of Prospect and Crown Heights issuing a statement that it “cannot support changes to the City Charter that further restrict or block public participation.”“Our elected officials should not be willing to trade in “so called efficiency” for democracy when it silences their constituents,” another local advocacy group, Brooklyn for All of Us, said. Outdoor dining and public space.

This proposal makes public hearings optional for permits covering sidewalk cafes, ramps and other uses of public space and removes the Council’s ability to veto sidewalk cafes.Instead it gives local officials 15 days to comment.Government watchdog groups have differing opinions with Reinvent Albany saying it supported the simplified approvals process, while Common Cause New York was against losing Council and community oversight.The vote passed with over 63% of the vote at roughly 89% reporting.

City contracts.This charter change would let the city’s contracting officials change contractor questionnaires, require quarterly meetings of the city’s contracting policy board and allow certain mayoral approvals be handled by agency staff.It eliminates a public hearing on agencies’ social service contracting plans and, starting in 2030, the board could raise or lower the $100,000 cutoff that determines which contracts require public comment.The proposal pass...