By Forum Staff
Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Comptroller Brad Lander recently announced the launch of a new capital projects tracker that will serve as a public dashboard that brings radical transparency to the city’s capital spending.
For the first time ever, the City will publish a user-friendly tracker that details all projects from major capital agencies. The tracker delivers on one of the key recommendations put forth by the Capital Process Reform Task Force, convened by Adams in April 2022.
The capital projects tracker — mandated by Local Law 37, and which was sponsored by then-New York City Councilmember Lander — provides a detailed view into the city’s construction projects, spanning critical infrastructure such as bridges, sewers, sanitation, and parks. The tracker merges schedule information from agency project management systems with budget information in the city’s Financial Management System. The tracker includes the total cost, current phase, and projected completion date projects, as well as additional details for all construction. In providing greater public insight into the status of capital projects, the tracker will help improve the overall capital process, which hinges on the availability of high-quality data throughout the project lifecycle.
The task force is comprised of leaders from the construction industry, labor, and minority- and women-owned business enterprises, along with city agencies and the Comptroller’s Office. The group was tasked with undertaking a top-down review of the city’s capital process and recommending reforms, from project initiation to closeout. Earlier this year, the task force released a slate of 39 recommendations to cut years off the process for delivering public works — helping to save valuable taxpayer dollars in the process and increasing public participation. In spring 2022, in partnership with elected officials in Albany, the task force delivered on much of its state legislative agenda, and expects to continue work on the remainder of the agenda during this coming session.
Additionally, the Adams administration outlined an ambitious set of future enhancements to the dashboard that further strengthen its commitment to transparency and accountability.
Future improvements to the tracker will include:
Refining the website design to improve the user experience;
Adding an interactive map showcasing detailed mapping and geocoding for each project; and
Implementing a comprehensive system of project classifications, enabling New Yorkers to filter projects based on criteria like infrastructure type and climate or environmental priority.
“This tracker will go a long way towards improving transparency in this city and will allow New Yorkers to see how and where their hard-earned tax dollars are being spent,” said City Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Ozone Park). “As it is now, capital projects are often extremely hard to track down, and many of them seem to be stalled indefinitely without any progress updates. This will help to alleviate this and will allow both the public and their representatives to better monitor the projects that are important to them.”
Councilman Bob Holden (D-Maspeth) added, “Capital funds are essential for New Yorkers, but we’ve often been left in the dark about where they’re going and why they cost so much. The new public tracker is a big step in the right direction! Now, let’s focus on making these projects more affordable and timely.”
