Why New Yorkers Should Vote “No” on Proposals 2 Through 6

This Election Day, Mayor Adams is attempting an undemocratic ploy to weaken checks and balances in New York City and make it harder to hold police and correction officers accountable. This effort comes in the form of five proposals that will be on the back of the ballot in New York City this November.

Proposals two, three, four, five and six represent an undemocratic attempt to expand the Mayor’s power at the expense of everyday New Yorkers and our elected City Councilmembers. These proposals or “props” would significantly change the New York City Charter, which is our city’s constitution.

The proposals would upend the separation of powers in City government and empower the Mayor and agencies, like the NYPD and Department of Correction, to derail the legislative process. This will make it even harder than it already is for the Council to pass laws that benefit New Yorkers and that deliver badly needed oversight and accountability. The Mayor wants to insulate the NYPD and Department of Correction – which runs the city’s jails – from checks on their power.

What is the New York City Charter and What are Charter Revision Commissions?

The New York City Charter functions as the city’s constitution. It provides the outline for how our local government operates. This includes how our elections are administered, what our budgeting process is, and what the powers of our city agencies are.

Charter revision commissions are temporary commissions that review the entire Charter and put any proposals for changing or “amending” it before voters. Previous commissions have been responsible for remaking the entire structure of city government, the introduction of ranked choice voting, and reinstituting two-term limits for the mayor and other elected city officials.

Charter revision commissions are serious endeavors that are meant to engage experts and the public at large in informed, nuanced conversations about how to improve governance in our city. Mayor Adams’ Charter revision process, however, has a different agenda: to boost the Mayor’s power and to further shield law enforcement from accountability.

Why Was Mayor Adams’ Charter Commission Anti-Democratic?

The latest Charter revision commission was born out of Mayor Adams’s desire to prevent New Yorkers from being able to vote on whether more of his executive agency appointments should be subjected to the City Council’s approval. This would have meant more oversight over the operations of city agencies. Beyond blocking this proposal, the mayor sought to use the Commission to weaken the City Council and punish it for exercising its authority to pass critical public safety and economic justice legislation. These measures include the How Many Stops Act, which adds much needed transparency to NYPD officers’ activities, the ban on inhumane solitary confinement in city jails, and rental assistance protections for poor and working-class New Yorkers.

While previous charter commissions conducted hearings over several months to engage as many New Yorkers as possible, Adams called for a revision commission with a timeline that was so rushed that the vast majority of New Yorkers did not even know it was happening. The Mayor announced the Commission on May 21, 2024, and the Commission held its first input session on June 5, accepted public comment through July 12, and finalized the ballot questions on proposed charter amendments on July 25.

Over the course of a few weeks, the Mayor’s handpicked commissioners ran a sham process and conducted only a handful of poorly attended public input sessions. What ended up on the ballot was merely Adams’s inner circle rubber-stamping his dangerous proposals.

What Did the Charter Commission Propose and Why Should Voters Reject These Proposals?

The Charter Revision Commission’s rushed and bad-faith process resulted in harmful charter amendments that would give more unchecked power to Mayor Adams at the expense of everyday New Yorkers and their elected representatives. They would also make city agencies like the NYPD and the Department of Corrections even less accountable to the public then they already are.

Other amendments go even further. They would make it much harder for the City Council to pass legislation that benefits low-income New Yorkers, such as bills that would provide child care and housing vouchers.

The amendments would also expand harsh enforcement against street vendors, who are already targeted by multiple agencies with violence and unfair treatment.

Finally, the amendments would further criminalize poverty by expanding the Department of Sanitation’s power to target unhoused New Yorkers for cruel and counterproductive homeless sweeps.

NYC Voters Must Vote No on 2-6

At a time of rising concern over the Adams administration’s integrity, these amendments represent an irresponsible and dangerous attempt to give more power to the Mayor. The City Charter is too important to change through a hurried, cynical, and politically-motivated process.

One of the most important ways you can defend democracy and protect all New Yorkers is by voting “NO” on proposals two through six in November.

The New York Civil Liberties Union is part of New Yorkers Defending Democracy, a coalition of civil rights groups, community groups and everyday New Yorkers from every background and borough uniting to defend democracy and defeat Mayor Adams’ undemocratic power grab at the ballot this November.