Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
Q&A
Chair Buery and Comptroller Lander discuss community planning and the prevalence of open primaries in other cities
0:17:25
·
5 min
Chair Richard R. Buery Jr. questions Comptroller Brad Lander on his testimony.
Buery asks for specific recommendations on how to incorporate community input in the housing proposals and questions Lander's characterization of open primaries as radical, given their common use in other major U.S. cities.
Lander suggests giving low-growth communities a chance to proactively plan for more housing and reiterates his belief that party primaries are a core part of American politics.
- Regarding housing, Lander suggests that the 12 districts with the least housing could be given a chance to proactively engage in rezoning plans.
- On elections, Buery points out that 42 of the 50 largest U.S. cities have some form of open primaries, making New York an outlier.
- Lander argues that political parties in those cities remain vibrant due to state and federal elections that use traditional primaries.
- He maintains that eliminating local party primaries would fundamentally change how politics is understood and practiced in New York.
Richard R. Buery Jr.
0:17:25
Until I have two two questions, one about elections, one about housing.
0:17:30
Well, actually, the housing question first.
0:17:32
You alluded to ensuring that the 12 districts who produce the less housing who then have the expedited process, ensuring their vision for community is given voice.
0:17:43
Can you say more what you meant by that, or do you have a particular recommendation?
Brad Lander
0:17:48
And some of this is, trying to understand, you know, kind of the proposal in the way you've written it.
0:17:51
As I understand it, the, you know, the fair housing study is done.
0:17:55
That's done every five years.
0:17:57
And if in the 12 neighborhoods that had produced the least housing, the accelerated ULURP would apply, and that makes sense to me.
0:18:07
In some places where they use that approach at a statewide level with a fair share, they give those communities an opportunity to say, okay.
0:18:16
Let us proactively engage.
0:18:19
We would like to put forward some rezonings that might help increase density and offer housing in our neighborhoods, and maybe this would provide the incentive for those communities rather than for all five years have every proposal that would be brought by a developer go through the accelerated process, there might be some planning opportunity.
0:18:40
And if they did, in fact, produce a lot more housing or support rezonings that open up much more opportunity, there could be a, you know, mid cycle process that adjusted.
0:18:51
It's not make or break for me.
0:18:53
I'm supporting proposals one through four, but if you're going back and doing a little more tweaking, that was the one thing that struck me that might be worth taking a look at.
Richard R. Buery Jr.
0:19:04
Thank you.
0:19:05
Thank you.
0:19:05
It's very helpful.
0:19:06
And then the other is part clarification and part question.
0:19:10
One of the things that you described in describing your opposition to proposal six is the important role of parties in elections and not wanting to take parties out of the process.
0:19:23
One, just a point of clarification that the to take the obvious, the proposal did not literally speak to removing parties, and people are able to assert their party identification on the ballot.
0:19:35
But one of the things I wanted to question is that my understanding from testimony we received to that, the majority of the largest cities in in America, I believe 42 of the 50 largest cities in America, have some form of of open primaries, including places like Boston where the Democratic Party remains alive and vibrant and well.
0:19:55
And so I'm wondering and you may you may not have a reflection on this, but I'm wondering if you have a reflection on the idea that somehow that what is proposed or what is being considered is somehow radical, both in its approach to parties and its approach to the role of parties when we're actually an outlier among large American cities in having the if I understand it and having the kind of process that we have.
0:20:20
So I'm just wondering if you have a reflection on that.
Brad Lander
0:20:24
Yeah.
0:20:24
I mean, I guess I think if you did what's being proposed here broadly at state and national levels, which obviously is not what's being proposed, I don't I don't know what political parties would be.
0:20:36
Like, what political parties are, by and large, in the context we have, are entities that have primaries, select candidates, and run them in general elections.
0:20:45
Like, that's just American politics.
0:20:47
That's what we do at the national level.
0:20:48
That's what we do at the state level.
0:20:50
Here in New York, it's what we've done at the local level.
0:20:54
And, yes, in Boston, you know, and other places, they still have Democrats, but mostly because they have state and federal elections that still operate with traditional primaries and traditional general elections.
0:21:05
So, you know, it's not that I'm saying if you do away with it here, that will be the end of political parties in America, but I to me, again, for all the frustration that I have had, you know, with the Brooklyn Democratic, with the Kings County Democratic Party, with the New York State Democratic Party, and the National Democratic Party, the way I understand what you do in an election is say, here's a set of values that we're debating, and I want to carry the Democratic Party banner into the general election.
0:21:40
And I mean, you could disagree with that and say it's not good, but that's to me how I understand what politics is in the American political context, and it's not perfect, but I think it has served us well.
0:21:52
And in the primary that we had two weeks ago tomorrow, I think it raised a whole lot of interesting thoughtful debate, and people suited up and put their ideas out there, and Democratic voters got to come out and choose the candidate they want to have in November and to choose to undo that, to say, we're gonna eliminate a Democratic party primary.
0:22:15
And, yes, other voters can come and participate in round one who now are choosing only to participate in round two, you're gonna say to me and other Democrats, you don't get to have a Democratic party primary in which you choose the Democratic candidate for the fall, and I just don't see any urgent I I think it will do harm to the good housing proposals you have on the ballot.
0:22:38
I don't even think the evidence suggests it increases turnout very likely where it happens, and I don't see an urgent reason to overturn how we've been doing things here for generations.
Richard R. Buery Jr.
0:22:51
So before you I didn't even make sure any other commissioners have questions first before we go.
0:22:57
Okay.