Legal Services NYC and Allies Applaud Human Rights Commission Funding News

February 11, 2015, New York, NY—Legal Services NYC (LSNYC) applauds New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito’s announcement that the Council will provide $5 million in new baseline funding to the New York City Commission on Human Rights, the primary enforcement agency for redress of discriminatory behavior New Yorkers experience on the job, in their homes, in places of public accommodation and elsewhere. The new funding will dramatically increase enforcement staffing to better serve New Yorkers facing discrimination and will also send an important message to all communities that New York City takes discrimination seriously and is committed to ensuring that all New Yorkers live free of discrimination.

The new funds, announced in the Speaker’s State of the City address, will enable the Commission to double the number of attorneys and investigators whose work gives teeth to the New York City Human Rights Law, the strongest civil rights law in the country. The news is especially welcome in light of the fact that the Commission’s budget has been drastically cut in the past two decades from a high of 152 City-funded employees to today’s staffing level of only 11 City-funded employees, a drop of more than 90 percent.

“LSNYC is thrilled to learn that the speaker has proposed a dramatic increase in funding for the City’s Commission on Human Rights,” said Amy Taylor, Coordinator of Legal Services NYC’s Equal Rights Initiative. “It is high time that New York City, one of the most diverse cities in the country with one of the strongest civil rights laws, funds the agency tasked with enforcing these laws for low-income New Yorkers who cannot afford private attorneys.”

LSNYC is part of the New York City Human Rights Law Working Group, a coalition of legal services and civil rights non-profit organizations that seeks to improve the effectiveness of the New York City Commission on Human Rights.

“We applaud Speaker Mark-Viverito and the City Council for shining a light on a long-standing gap in efforts to protect New Yorkers’ basic human rights,” said McGregor Smyth, Executive Director of New York Lawyers for the Public Interest. “We are optimistic that the additional funding for the City Commission will lead to more thorough and timely investigation and prosecution of complaints, and we hope that the Commission will begin using its affirmative enforcement power to the fullest extent to combat all forms of discrimination.”

“The Speaker’s commitment to additional funding is an important first step towards reversing decades of punishing staff reductions and restoring the Commission to a position where it can be an effective force against discrimination,” said Craig Gurian, Executive Director of the Anti-Discrimination Center.

“This is an important step towards making New York City a model for the domestic implementation of universally accepted human rights standards,” said Shani Jamila, Director of the Human Rights Project at the Urban Justice Center.

“We applaud Speaker Mark-Viverito for prioritizing enforcement of one of the nation’s strongest civil rights laws with desperately needed funding for the NYC Human Rights Commission,” said Dina Bakst, Co-President of A Better Balance. “This budget boost, together with the rest of the Speaker’s bold agenda to promote fairness and opportunity for working families, will launch New York City into the vanguard of equal opportunity and make our city a beacon for the rest of the country.” 

“The Community Service Society of New York commends City Council Speaker Melissa Mark Viverito for demonstrating the Council’s commitment to civil rights by increasing the budget for the City Commission on Human Rights,” said David R. Jones, President & CEO of the Community Service Society of New York. “The protections enjoyed by all New Yorkers are meaningless without enforcement, and we hope this is the first step towards fully funding the Commission and ensuring that it is a viable resource for low-income New Yorkers who experience discrimination.”

“Today’s announcement demonstrates the Speaker’s commitment to ensuring New York’s Commission has the resources necessary to promote and protect civil and human rights.  The Commission can and should be a national leader in efforts to advance dignity, equality and opportunity for all, and this is a critical step to achieving that goal,” said JoAnn Kamuf Ward, Associate Director of the Human Rights Institute and Lecturer-in-Law at Columbia Law School. 

“After decades of deliberate defunding and purposeful evisceration of the City Commission on Human Rights, we applaud City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito for her vision, commitment and leadership to now restoring the functional integrity and lifeblood of this key civil rights enforcement agency,” said Jackson Chin, Senior Counsel at LatinoJustice PRLDEF. “With one of the nation’s most expansive anti-discrimination laws including protections barring discrimination based upon one’s alienage, LatinoJustice looks forward to a proactive Commission that timely investigates and protects the rights of diverse Latino residents and all New Yorkers in housing, workplace and public accommodations.”

Other members of the working group include the Bronx Defenders, the Gender Equality Center, LatinoJustice PRLDEF, the Legal Aid Society, Legal Action Center, Make the Road New York, New York Legal Assistance Group, and others.

Legal Services NYC fights poverty and seeks justice for low-income New Yorkers. For more than 45 years, we have challenged systemic injustice and helped clients meet basic needs for housing, access to high-quality education, health care, family stability, and income and economic security.

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Contact: Kate Whalen, 646-442-3654, kwhalen (at) legalservicesnyc.org