VOLUME 10, ISSUE 7: NYC Ballot Proposal 5 Opinion

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There are six proposals on the ballot for the upcoming election. Proposal 5 would consolidate the official City Map, which plays a little-known but critical role in the approval of housing and infrastructure projects, into a single map and digitize it. Additionally, it would make the Department of City Planning (DCP) responsible for creating, maintaining and digitizing a single city map. Today, the City Map consists of five different sets of maps, one for each borough.

The City Map is the official registry of streets and publicly owned land as it legally defines street names, assigns addresses for new buildings, maintains street information, and provides crucial data on what lies beneath Manhattan’s buildings, basements, and tunnels. Currently, the City Map is managed by five Topographical Bureaus located in each Borough and consists of more than 8,000 maps in total.

Proponents of this proposal tout the measure as a way to streamline and expedite processes that depend on city maps, such as infrastructure and housing projects. Additionally, supporters feel this proposal would make public information more readily available and the digital nature would make this easier to access, especially to New Yorkers with disabilities.

While the above advantages may be appealing, it is our experience that Topographical Bureau workers possess experience and expertise that is crucial to dispense accurate information - some of which is highly technical in nature - to residents and professionals alike. Outsourcing these duties to a centralized agency with workers who are not necessarily equipped to handle this type of responsibility could have negative repercussions and may result in a severe back-log or worse yet, may result in the incorrect transcription of information. This is especially important given that several agencies such as the Department of Buildings, New York Fire Department and others rely on this information for their own record keeping. This type of work requires strong communications skills and in-person interaction to effectively and accurately manage this important information.

Over the past years citizens have suffered through numerous examples where “streamlining” via difficult-to-use technology has usurped the role of civil servants in aiding residents with the successful fulfilment of City requirements. Proposal 5 would only serve to change a system that has been working quite well for over 100 years.

Kevin Danielson is an attorney and consultant with RPO Inc. He represents clients on a variety of matters involving compliance with City regulations.