New Yorkers pass measure granting Mayor Adams more control over cleaning public spaces, other ballot measures

Beginning next year, sanitation workers will have more power to clean public spaces, according to election results published by the Associated Press.

The proposal was one of five ballot questions put before city voters by Mayor Eric Adams’ Charter Revision Commission. Three other proposals, including one that affects how public safety legislation is passed, are currently leading in vote totals.

The ballot proposals were viewed as a battle for power between the City Council and the mayor, who’s been politically weakened as he fights federal corruption charges. Should most of the measures pass, critics are likely to argue that voters had insufficient time to fully understand the proposals in the weeks leading up to an election dominated by a presidential election.

As of Wednesday morning, election totals show that city voters passed a ballot proposal that gives the mayor the power to order the sanitation department to clean all city-owned properties as well as the ability to require that all trash be put in containers, a key priority for Adams. Immigration advocates warned such a charter amendment could lead to crackdowns on street vendors.

Another contested measure requires the Council to give the public more time before passing public safety bills. Under the proposed charter change, the Council must give the mayor and agencies 30 days notice before voting before passing legislation affecting “public safety operations.” The ballot measure grew out of a protracted fight between the mayor and Council over police transparency legislation, and was called later in the morning Wednesday, along with a measure to provide more detail in capital planning projects.

A measure requiring the City Council to publish the fiscal impacts of any bill it passes before those bills are debated also appeared to be headed for passage Wednesday, according to preliminary AP results.

A measure that would change the film-permitting process; establish a position to promote minority and women-owned businesses; and merge the city archives appears headed for defeat according to preliminary returns.

Council Speaker Adrienne Adams described the proposals as “tantamount to mayoral control over the City Council.” She was among 40 city, state, and federal representatives who publicly opposed the ballot measures. The Working Families Party and the New York Immigration both campaigned against the proposals, as did the newly formed group No Power Grab NYC, which spent $218,000 to defeat the measures.

The ballot initiatives emerged after the mayor opposed a plan introduced by the speaker to give the Council more control over the mayor’s appointments. The change would have required a ballot measure to change the city charter. But under the rules, the mayor was able to block the speaker’s plan by convening a charter review commission that put forth its own ballot measures.

Now, the Council is seeking to form its own Charter Revision Commission, a move that will likely escalate the body’s tensions with the mayor.

This is a developing story and is likely to be updated.