The New York City Charter Revision Commission (CRC) held its first public hearing on the revision of the New York City Charter at the Queens Borough Hall on June 5. Yiatin Chu, a candidate for State Senator in the 11th district of New York, proposed at the hearing that primary elections should be open to non-partisan voters.
The New York City Charter establishes the organization, functions, basic procedures, and policies of the city government. The Charter Revision Commission is a temporary committee responsible for reviewing the entire charter and submitting proposals for any amendments to the voters. The Commission may put forth a series of wide-ranging amendments. After the conclusion of the public consultation, the Commission will decide whether to present proposals to amend the New York City Charter in a single or multiple propositions on the ballot in the November general election, thus necessitating a series of meetings and hearings.
During the meeting, Yiatin Chu voiced two main points. Firstly, she suggested opening up primary elections to non-partisan voters, citing the current closed primary system as unfair to voters without party affiliation, particularly immigrants and Asian voters. She highlighted that in precincts with a significant Asian voter population, up to 1/3 of voters have no party affiliation, making it challenging for them to understand and participate effectively.
“When non-partisan voters go to vote in November, they are left with options chosen by others—a very limited choice,” Chu stated. She mentioned having discussed this issue with both the Democratic and Conservative parties previously, but no one had shown willingness to change. Opening primaries to non-partisan voters is a crucial electoral reform that should be decided by all New York City voters through a referendum, rather than relying on existing party leadership to drive such reform.
Secondly, Yiatin Chu opposed the “City of Yes” proposal, deeming it poorly conceived. She expressed that irrespective of efforts to address housing shortages, homeowners paying high property taxes should not bear the burden.
“Residents move to peripheral areas like East Queens, South Queens, and Southern Brooklyn for a reason—to have more green space. But the City of Yes uproots all our infrastructure and investments,” Chu emphasized. She criticized specific actions such as eliminating parking spaces, citing the current inability to find parking in low-density communities, raising concerns about building more residences without addressing parking and infrastructure issues.
WABC talk show host and television/radio commentator Frank Morano also raised the idea of including non-partisan individuals in primary elections. He noted that there are 1 million non-partisan voters in New York City who pay taxes but have no say in primary elections as they cannot vote. Morano pointed out that about half of the cities in the United States, including Los Angeles, have non-partisan elections or open primaries to non-partisan voters. He believed that New York City should easily adopt this practice and allow citizens to decide if this approach is warranted.
From now until July, the public can submit written opinions via email to [email protected]. Future hearing dates will be announced on www.nyc.gov/charter.