In the spring of 2025, a New York City Charter Revision Commission is considering, largely in media obscurity, big changes in the distribution of power and patronage in the city. In a new Manhattan Institute brief, I discuss one category of potential major changes to the city charter, affecting the land use decision-making process.
The city regulates land use in several ways, principally through enacting zoning but also by mapping streets and parks, constructing infrastructure, and acquiring and disposing of land for public projects. Under Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia in the 1930s, the City Planning Commission and the Department of City Planning were established to ensure these decisions were made in a professional manner, taking citywide needs into account.
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Eric Kober is an adjunct fellow at the Manhattan Institute. He retired in 2017 as director of housing, economic and infrastructure planning at the New York City Department of City Planning. Follow him on Twitter here. This piece is based off of a recent issue brief.
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