Join us on Thursday, October 8 at 6:30 PM at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 81 Christopher Street, for VID’s October General Membership Meeting.

• Can’t attend in person? Join us on Zoom HERE.

We’ll discuss the five NYC Charter amendments on the November ballot and vote on whether VID should support each proposal:

1. Speed Up Process for Granting a Revocable Consent to Use Public Space
Streamlines approvals for uses such as ramps, planters, and sidewalk cafés by making public hearings optional and eliminating City Council authority to reject sidewalk café permits.

2. Reduce City Contractor Paperwork; Require Regular Meetings of Procurement Policy Board
Changes city contracting rules to allow simplified contractor questionnaires and additional delegated contract approvals, removes some mandatory hearing requirements, and requires the Procurement Policy Board to meet quarterly.

3. Speed Up Street Safety Projects, Disposition of Unused City Property, Office Leasing
Streamlines approval processes for major street-safety projects, the sale or lease of certain city-owned property, and city office leases, reducing some agency and City Council review requirements.

4. Simplify Building Permitting and Move Waterfront Permitting to Department of Buildings
Creates a centralized construction permitting system, allows additional officials to approve construction documents, and moves waterfront construction permitting to the Department of Buildings.

5. Set Contribution Targets for Rainy Day Fund to Promote Sufficient Budgetary Reserves
Sets a goal of maintaining reserves equal to at least 12% of the prior year’s city tax revenue and requires a methodology for making contributions when reserves fall below the target.

Learn more before the meeting:

• NYC Votes: Official ballot language and voter information.

• The City Reporter: Independent reporting, context, and perspectives on the five proposals.

• League of Women Voters of the City of New York: A proposal-by-proposal breakdown, including arguments for and against each measure.

• PIX11 – Ann Cheng: Hear directly from the Executive Director of the Commission on Government Efficiency, which developed the proposals, about what they would change and the commission’s rationale for them.