NYC Agenda

Introduction

NYC is one of the greatest cities in the world, but too many people experience it as expensive, slow, chaotic, and closed to newcomers. The Functionalists want a New York that is safe enough to live in, cheap enough to stay in, free enough to build in, and democratic enough to change.

1. Legalize The Next Apartment

NYC cannot become affordable without more homes. We support more housing near transit, office-to-residential conversions, safe basement apartments, apartments above shops, faster permitting, and the right of churches, nonprofits, schools, and property owners to build more homes where it makes sense.

• More homes near transit
• Safer legal basement apartments
• Office-to-residential conversions
• Faster DOB permitting
• Apartments over stores
• Small apartment buildings in more neighborhoods
• Less discretionary veto power

2. Make It Easier To Start A Business

NYC should be the easiest major city in America to start a legal, safe, neighborhood-serving business. Too often, the city treats small businesses like suspects before they even open.

• One-stop small business launch portal
• Default approval for low-risk businesses
• Cure periods before fines when possible
• Clear checklists instead of agency confusion
• Faster permits for cafes, shops, clinics, studios, and pop-ups
• Public agency response-time dashboards

3. Health Dashboard NYC

Every New Yorker should have access to proactive, measurement-based primary care: basic labs, blood pressure, metabolic health, mental health screening, dental checkups, sleep risk, and a follow-up plan.

• Direct primary care pilots
• City worker health dashboard pilot
• Transparent prices for common services
• Preventive care that leads to actual follow-up
• Mental health and addiction access
• Neighborhood health clubs and clinics

4. Safe, Clean, Humane Streets

Public order and compassion are not opposites. No person should be abandoned to the street, and no neighborhood should be abandoned to disorder.

• Better mental-health crisis response
• More stabilization beds and clubhouses
• Cleaner streets and containerized trash
• More visible transit safety
• Consequences for repeat violent disorder
• Treatment pathways for addiction and severe mental illness
• Fast repairs for lights, sidewalks, scaffolding, and public spaces

5. Open NYC

New Yorkers should be able to understand, track, and challenge their government. If citizens can track a pizza delivery, they should be able to track permits, potholes, shelter placements, agency response times, and city contracts.

• Open primaries
• Stronger ranked-choice voting education
• Agency performance dashboards
• Easier ballot access
• Better FOIL/open-data compliance
• Participatory budgeting
• Public procurement transparency
• Anti-corruption and conflict-of-interest rules

Join The NYC Effort

Want to help build the NYC chapter? Join the Functionalists and select “NYC chapter.”