The Mamdani administration is weaponizing a $1.6 million taxpayer-funded ad campaign to sway voters into passing five ballot questions that exponentially increase the socialist pol’s power under the guise of streamlining government, critics told The Post.
The ballot questions before NYC voters in the Nov. 3 general election – which include measures to fast-track how City Hall approves controversial outdoor dining sheds and anti-car, so-called street-safety projects — were selected by a 15-member Charter Revision Commission appointed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Under city law, government officials are prohibited from using public funds to advocate for or against ballot proposals.
Instead, Hizzoner and the panel are “encouraging” New Yorkers through an ad blitz that includes social-media videos, text blasts and other methods to go to the polls and vote on the ballot questions, touted in glowing terms as a means to a “faster government” that cuts red tape.
The ramifications of voting yes — namely, the surrender of checks and balances if the ballot questions are approved — are never mentioned.
In one video released by the Mayor’s Office last month, Mamdani races around City Hall like a cartoon character to Looney Tunes-style sound effects while boasting “New Yorkers will be able to vote on how fast our government runs.”
The ads violate the spirit of the law by trying to influence election results rather than simply encouraging people to vote, according to some critics.
“Taxpayer dollars are supposed to be used to serve the public — not bankroll the mayor’s political agenda,” said Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Queens).
“The whole thing is completely illegitimate, and we are getting closer to socialist totalitarianism every day with this administration. These proposals want to take power away from the people and put it in the hands of bureaucrats.”
Councilman Phil Wong (D-Queens) said “we’ve seen” past mayors “walk right up to the line” of what is allowed under the law, but “this isn’t even close. It’s way over.”
One controversial measure is pitched as “simplifying” the approval process for private uses of public space, including outdoor dining sheds, sidewalk cafes, accessibility ramps, benches and planters.
But it would also eliminate City Council review, strips local community boards and borough presidents of some input, and allow applications to proceed without public hearings.
Another would speed up construction of new bus lanes, bike lanes and other “street safety” projects because the Department of Transportation would no longer need to present these projects to local community boards.
That same ballot question would also replace the City Council with the mayoral-controlled City Planning Commission as the body reviewing sales and leases on certain city properties. It would also expedite how the city leases office space by removing approvals needed from the Council and Planning Board.
Other proposals would reduce paperwork for city contractors; and simplify the building permit process while shunting waterfront-permit responsibility from the Department of Small Business Services to the Department of Buildings.
The fifth ballot question targets setting the city’s rainy-day fund used for emergencies and economic downturns at an amount equal to 12% of the previous year’s city tax revenue. Currently, there is no such targeted amount.
A group of Brooklyn community groups operating under the banner “Our Streets! Our Voices! Our Vote!” planned to rally Saturday outside Barclays Center in opposition to the city’s anti-car push to bring more “bike boulevards” and rapid-transit bus lanes to the Big Apple, and in opposition to the ballot question fast-tracking the process and muting input from residents.
Council Speaker Julie Menin has distributed information to other members about the government transparency and Council power that would be lost if the ballot questions pass, but the legislative body as a whole have yet to take a formal stance on them.
In 2025, the Council under then-Speaker Adrienne Adams spend more than $1.5 million opposing a series of ballot questions pushed by then-Mayor Eric Adams that were ultimately approved by voters and revised the city’s land-use decision-making process. Menin has said she will not authorize the Council to spend taxpayer funds on this year’s ballot questions.
Good-government group Citizens Union New York wrote on X “it’s hard to tell” whether the ballot-question ads cross “the line into electioneering.” Unfortunately, “the more honest truth” is there is no city ethics watchdog responsible for ensuring the law is followed.
The Council must pass legislation clarifying that the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board “is indeed tasked with regulating the ban on government-funded electioneering,” it added.
COIB Executive Director Carolyn Miller said the ad blitz’s legality “is beyond the scope of the board’s jurisdiction.”
A spokesperson for the Mayor’s Office said, “Per state law, the [Charter Revision] Commission is charged with providing public education and is leveraging the tools available to inform New Yorkers about the proposed ballot props in an effort to encourage them to make their voices heard.”
