Mamdani looks to ask voters if NYC should speed up construction of bus and bike lanes

Mayor Zohran Mamdani wants to hit the gas on new city bus and bike lanes.

The Commission on Government Efficiency, which the mayor formed in January, has proposed expediting the time it takes to build new street safety projects by 33%. It’s one of the five ballot questions the commission is expected to approve on Thursday that aim to speed up work by — and with — the city. The proposals will appear on voters’ ballots in November.

“It's about keeping New Yorkers in the driver's seat the whole time,” said Ann Cheng, the commission's executive director. Officials say more than 1,200 people attended 10 hearings organized by the commission. Some came to complain, and some submitted suggestions for how to improve government. “They came up with the ideas and ultimately New Yorkers will decide if these ideas, if these changes, are made to the charter,” Cheng said.

Altogether, the commission settled on five proposals that it said will simplify the process to secure permits for outdoor dining, shorten the timeframe for the city’s contracting and procurement process, fast-track projects on city-owned land whether its for a street or a building, simplify the building permit process and create targets for contributions to the city’s rainy day fund to prepare for an economic downturn.

Street safety advocates welcomed the potential changes.

“ Our streets are such a scarce public space in the city,” said Danny Pearlstein, spokesperson for the Riders Alliance. “ It's something that we really need to make the most of, and as our needs change, it's important that the government be able to respond to that in a timely manner.”

“ Projects like bus lanes, we just need to get them done and prove their worth and build upon them, rather than getting stuck in red tape,” he added.

The current rules for street safety projects require a multiagency consultation and certification process. One of the proposed changes would empower the transportation commissioner to expedite measures that are determined to be critical to street safety.

The proposed changes to the outdoor dining program follow widespread complaints from restaurant owners who said the current rules were too cumbersome. The new proposal seeks to streamline applications for business owners and modernize the public hearing process.

“ Outdoor dining is such an important part of New York City's streetscape and culture,” said Sara Lind, the co-executive director of Open Plans, which supports the outdoor dining policies. “We know since the permanent program was put in place, it's been a little bit more difficult for restaurants to participate so we're thrilled to see Mayor Mamdani and his administration taking that on.”

Lind said she is hopeful the City Council will separately advance legislation to make outdoor dining year-round this year.

One notable question is not on the list of proposals expected to be approved Thursday: reform of the city’s primary elections system. A group called Unite NY submitted 45,000 petitions in support of a ballot question that would ask voters whether they want to conduct nonpartisan open primaries for local elections instead of the current closed system in which only voters registered with a political party can participate in its primary.

Once finalized, the five ballot questions approved by the mayor’s Commission on Government Efficiency would prevent a question about open primaries from appearing on the ballot this year because it would be bumped by the commission’s questions.

But Anthony Thomas, the group’s executive director, said the state’s Municipal Home Rule law only allows questions submitted by citizen petition to be bumped one time. So his group is continuing their work to get the question on the ballot in 2027.

Cheng said her focus after Thursday will be making sure voters know what is on their ballots this year.

“It's about educating New Yorkers and making sure that people are going into the ballot box informed about what these proposals do and don't do so that they can engage with their communities and do research and figure out whether they support them,” Cheng said.