A masked ICE agent in 26 Federal Plaza on July 22, 2025.
Picture by Lloyd Mitchell
Proper now, in New York Metropolis, persons are afraid. A tenant in Queens is being denied housing due to her race. A transgender lady in Brooklyn is being misgendered and harassed. A teenager in Manhattan whose immigration standing is unsure is simply too afraid to talk up after being mistreated at work.
They aren’t alone – they usually have protections. However when worry retains folks from reporting discrimination, the promise of civil rights fades away.
Because the Chair and Commissioner of the New York Metropolis Fee on Human Rights, I’m proud to steer the company chargeable for implementing one of many strongest civil rights legal guidelines within the nation. The New York Metropolis Human Rights Legislation protects in opposition to discrimination throughout greater than 25 classes, together with race, gender identification, sexual orientation, incapacity, and extra. Our mandate is to make sure that each New Yorker can stay, work, and thrive with dignity. However we can’t implement the regulation if New Yorkers are too afraid to return to us.
Throughout the town, we’re seeing a troubling rise in worry and uncertainty, particularly amongst communities which have lengthy confronted discrimination. When folks fear that talking up would possibly put them or their households in danger, they could select to remain silent, even when they’re protected below the regulation. This worry doesn’t simply influence particular person New Yorkers; it weakens our collective skill to uphold civil rights protections and guarantee equal therapy for all.
Whilst federal protections are being rolled again, New York Metropolis’s native protections stay robust – they usually matter now greater than ever.
Actually, earlier this yr, our Fee expanded authorized protections to ban housing
discrimination based mostly on arrest information, felony convictions, or different felony historical past. We additionally added two new protected classes below the Human Rights Legislation – peak and weight – recognizing nobody must be handled unfairly due to their physique measurement. These updates replicate our ongoing dedication to creating the regulation extra inclusive and reflective of a various metropolis.
My workers works day by day to make it possible for the regulation doesn’t solely exist on paper, however in observe. If a tenant is denied housing as a result of they’re utilizing a housing voucher, or an worker is handed over for a promotion because of their gender identification – we step in. We’re right here to information people by way of the grievance course of, join them to authorized assets, and maintain unhealthy actors accountable.
This work can take time, but it surely delivers actual outcomes. For instance, after seven years of laborious work, we secured one of many largest civil rights settlements in New York Metropolis historical past: 850 condo items put aside for housing voucher holders and $1 million in civil penalties on a neighborhood administration firm.
However, we can’t – and don’t – await hurt to happen. We additionally work to stop it. By way of public training campaigns, authorized trainings, and cell clinics in all 5 boroughs, we be sure that New Yorkers know their rights and obligations.
New York Metropolis is right here that can assist you. Our Human Rights Legislation has not modified, and neither has our dedication to implementing it.
We all know it is a time of worry and uncertainty. However we additionally know that New Yorkers are stronger than anybody. Whether or not you’re going through discrimination, harassment, or bias, you’ve gotten rights. And you’ve got somebody to name.
New York Metropolis doesn’t again down from a troublesome struggle. We cleared the path and can proceed to defend justice and equality for all.
