Mamdani’s DOGE Counterpart Digs into NYC Permits, Contracts

The Mamdani administration’s answer to President Donald Trump’s beleaguered Department of Government Efficiency spent its first month as an independent review panel hearing public input from more than 650 commenters on potential recommendations to amend the New York City Charter.

Now, the newly rebranded charter revision commission has issued a preliminary report that details its initial priorities. They include faster construction permitting and reforms to the procurement process for municipal infrastructure projects as areas of interest for potential ballot measures that the public will vote on in November.

A recent COGE hearing held at Medgar Evers College Tuesday drew public input on a wide range of topics, including two additional calls for charter amendments creating open primaries, pitched as a way boost turnout and represent a broader swath constituents by allow Independent and third-party voters to weigh in on key races like last week’s Democratic primary.

One COGE solution on the table is a one-stop shop for permitting, intended to expedite housing construction, infrastructure projects and renovations that currently require separate permits granted by more than a dozen disparate agencies. In the report, the panel posits a central hub allowing access to construction permits across agencies as an area to explore, along with Department of Buildings deputies who a Commissioner could designate to issue final determinations.

The preliminary report also highlights interest in a potential recommendation to consolidate construction waterfront permitting under the Department of Buildings, instead of the current model that requires permits from the Small Business Service. COGE notes that prior charter revision commissions have explored consolidating waterfront permitting under DOB, garnering support from non-governmental organizations.

Former Mayor Eric Adams convened his own charter revision commission during his final day in office, which this week sued Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Governor Kathy Hochul, the Board of Elections and the city clerk seeking to get a charter proposal open primaries onto the November ballot, with Council member Vickie Paladino, ex-Governor David Paterson and Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella as co-plaintiffs.

Mayor Mamdani disbanded the so-called “zombie commission” with the state legislature’s blessing, which plaintiffs claim he did illegally to retroactively scuttle the panel and block the open primary ballot measure proposal.

That’s not Mamdani’s only government efficiency-related skirmish. Trump’s now-defunct DOGE critiqued Mamdani this week over the budget agreement he reached with the City Council, calling upon his office to share “findings” for the same level of public scrutiny the federal efficiency initiative faced, the latest in a string of X posts targeting the mayor and COGE since its inception.

Mayor Mamdani created a Streamlining Procedures to Expedite Equitable Development task force on his first day in office, which similarly aims to boost coordination between agencies on permitting for faster housing construction. The potential charter revision would be a step beyond the SPEED task force’s efforts in that area, providing a centralized model for requesting and accessing construction permits.

A single affordable housing building might require up to 40 separate permits and procedures across 15 different agencies, a SPEED task force report found. COGE commenters reported inefficiencies in the permitting process that slowed down new housing construction, restaurant openings, green technology installation, and job creation, according to the panel’s preliminary report.

The panel is also weighing potential charter recommendations that would reform procurement processes by reducing paperwork like questionnaires for vendors seeking business with the city, switching to a public comment period from mandatory public hearings for contract awards and cutting certain reporting requirements for agency staff. COGE is also looking into how a charter amendment that allows the mayor to delegate select procurement approvals could potentially cut down the process by up to two weeks, according to the report.

Past ballot measures originating in the committee have left their mark on New York’s skyline and neighborhoods, speeding up housing and infrastructure projects through the Expedited Land Use Review Procedure, which secured enough votes last November to amend the city charter. Two additional housing ballot measures passed last year, creating “fast-track” options for affordable housing zoning changes and an appeals board that can reverse City Council rejections, comprised of the mayor, Council speaker and the relevant borough president.