What Are NYC’s 4 Ballot Questions? A Guide For Voters

NEW YORK CITY — New York City voters’ biggest question during the 2022 midterm election could well be a four-parter: what exactly are these ballot proposals?

Four ballot questions are up for a vote by city dwellers in Tuesday’s election.

How city dwellers vote — whether “yes” or “no” — will determine the fate of up to $4.2 billion in potential environmental projects, the language of the City Charter, how city officials measure the cost of living and whether there should be a new city office devoted to racial equity.

Those ballot questions have largely slid under the radar as the gubernatorial race between Democratic incumbent Kathy Hochul and Republican Lee Zeldin grew tighter, not to mention all the congressional races that could swing the partisan balance of power in Washington, D.C.

But, arguably, city voters’ say on the questions could have a more direct impact on their daily lives than which candidate gets a two-year term in Congress.

Patch has compiled a concise guide for Election Day voters (sorry, early voters) who want to be well-informed before they declare yay or nay on the proposals. (And those who want to read the specific language for all four beforehand can click here.)

Proposal One: Clean Water, Clean Air, And Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act of 2022

The only statewide question on New York City’s ballot is also the biggest, in terms of public money.

A “yes” would allow New York State to borrow $4.2 billion through bonds for environmental projects, including some designed to combat against the effects of climate change.

The proposal, along with breaks down how much for specific types of projects. Those are:

• At least $1.1 billion for restoration and flood risk reduction
• Up to $650 million for open space land conservation and recreation
• Up to $1.5 billion for climate change mitigation
• And at least $650 million for water quality improvement and resilient infrastructure

The proposal is the first environmental bond act to go before voters in 26 years, according to the Rockefeller Institute of Government.

One important note is that this proposal will be on the back of the ballot, so voters should remember to flip it over.

Read the “Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act of 2022” ballot proposal here.

Proposal Two: Add a Statement of Values to Guide Government

New York City-specific proposals form the remaining questions on the ballot, starting with this second one.

All the city-based proposals stem from the New York City Racial Justice Commission, a group formed under former Mayor Bill de Blasio that sought to address centuries of structural racism.

The proposals “form a seed whose roots will grow over time, knitting together a new soil for an equitable society,” the commission’s final report states.

And first among those proposals is a change to the City Charter that adds a preamble laying out a guiding principle of aspiring toward “a just and equitable city for all” New Yorkers.

The City must strive to remedy “past and continuing harms and to reconstruct, revise, and reimagine our foundations, structures, institutions, and laws to promote justice and equity for all New Yorkers,” the proposal states.

Read the full proposal here.

Proposal Three: Establish a Racial Equity Office, Plan, and Commission

While the Charter preamble is essentially a mission statement, this proposal aims to put that into action.

The proposal is actually a three-fold change to the City Charter.

The first would require citywide and agency-specific Racial Equity Plans every two years, with specific strategies and goals to improve equity or to reduce or eliminate disparities, according to the proposal.

The second change is the establishment of an Office of Racial Equity designed to help support “improving access to City services and programs for those people and communities who have been negatively affected by previous policies or actions,” as well as collecting and reporting data related to equity, the proposal states.

And the third and final change is creating a Commission on Racial Equity that will be appointed by city officials.

Read the full proposal here.

Proposal Four: Measure the True Cost of Living

Simply put, the Racial Justice Commission’s final report found that standard cost of living measures don’t really apply to life in New York City.

The report noted that the federal poverty guideline for a family of four was set at an income of roughly $26,500 in 2021.

“The average New Yorker would likely view this estimate as an unrealistically low measure of what it actually costs to live in New York City,” the report states.

The ballot proposal aims to create a “True Cost of Living” measure.

Doing so, according to the proposal, would “track the actual cost in New York City of meeting essential needs, including housing, food, childcare, transportation, and other necessary costs, and without considering public, private, or informal assistance, in order to inform programmatic and policy decisions.”

City officials would also have to create an annual report on such a measure, if the proposal passes.

Read the full proposal here.