New York City’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, pledged to tackle issues such as housing and affordability and promised to serve as the mayor of every New Yorker.
Those in the disability community are hopeful he remains true to his words, while some were disappointed the mayor didn’t note the community specifically in his inaugural speech last week, despite mentioning other specific groups.
“I did not hear anything about us,” said disability activist Robert Acevedo of the nonprofit, volunteer organization Disabled In Action, who attended Mamdani’s swearing in with his husband. “It’s important that we attend these events and show others that the disabled are present.”
Mamdani has previously told Able News that he would strive for inclusivity across all sections of government.
“The disabled community is a critical part of our city, but I think to your point it’s also a community that deserves to have unique recognition,” Mamdani told Able News staff reporter Christopher Alvarez in an exclusive interview in December.
Mamdani took the helm as the city’s youngest mayor on New Year’s Day after a successful campaign where he promised to fight for change. As the new mayor has made significant appointments to his team, questions still tower on how he will carry out an accessibility agenda for concerned disabled New Yorkers.
The mayor’s press office did confirm that sign language interpreters in four various cultures “were positioned on both sides of the stage in the aisles” at the swearing-in ceremony at City Hall.
Meanwhile, longtime city educator Kamar Samuels was elevated as Mamdani’s pick to be the next Chancellor of New York City Public Schools, the then-Mayor-elect announced at a press conference in the Charles A. Dana Discovery Center in Central Park a day before he was sworn in as the city’s first South Asian mayor. Samuels has served as an educator in the city’s public schools for nearly two decades, starting out as an elementary school teacher before becoming a principal at the Bronx Writing Academy.
“The goal here remains the same,” Mamdani said at the press conference. “It remains improving teacher recruitment and retention, expanding support for students with special needs, improving literacy rates, and delivering the best public education we can in the wealthiest city in the wealthiest country in the history of the world,”
But pupil transportation – especially for students with disabilities – across the city remains problematic.
Before leaving his post, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander exposed the state of the citywide “dysfunctional bus system” with a new audit and policy report his office released, leading him to call for a major school bus system overhaul.
Roughly 43% of students who take school buses in NYC have at least one disability. The audit found that nearly all “problem runs” are for students with disabilities, forcing them to miss valuable class time and be excluded from afterschool extracurricular activities.
Asked by Able News at the press conference in Central Park if ex-comptroller Lander’s recommendation for a School Bus Czar is necessary, Mayor Mamdani did not answer directly, saying that he takes “very seriously that report, those findings. And I think you’ll find in the chancellor’s remarks as well as in my own that the quality of education and experience that we deliver for disabled children across the city has to be a priority. And I am at once appreciative of the fact that the bus contract was not extended to the full proposed amount. And I know that this is a challenge that we will have to address, we will have to tackle. And it will be a focus for both the school’s chancellor and myself.”
When discussing employment at his Manhattan office in the mid-December interview with Able News, Mamdani said that “disabled New Yorkers are like any New Yorker across the city where they have a place in leading our city.”
It was “an honor” for Dr. Sharon McLennon-Wier, the Executive Director of the Center for Independence of the Disabled New York (CIDNY), to be the only disabled individual appointed to serve on the mayor’s Committee on Social Services transition team, she said.
Although “it’s unfortunate that we do not have a disability advocate on all 17 committees,” said Dr. Wier, adding she is grateful for the opportunity to continue to fight for disability rights and advise the mayor on which direction to take when delegating with state and federal leaders as it pertains to accessibility for disabled New Yorkers.
When his friend found out that personnel behind the hiring of Mamdani’s open employment transition portal were rejecting disabled experts, Marc Safman, CEO of Safman Consulting and a frustrated DeafBlind New York resident, filed a public statement complaint on November 7th, along with his friend. In response to Dr. Wier’s appointment, Safman told Able News through text that “one blind, nonprofit CEO does not mean equality.”
“ You can’t say that you are providing a city that is equal and open and has available opportunities for everyone if you don’t know who that everyone is,” Dr. Wier told Able News in an exclusive interview immediately after her appointment in November, hinting at sharing the same sentiment. “I just hope that the appointment is not just a one and done. Mamdani has a four-year term and I’m hoping that he will continue to meet with the disability community as we advocate for all these areas that are being neglected right now in the city.”
Mayor Mamdani still has yet to make his choice for Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office For People With Disabilities. Able News will be closely watching the new administration on issues affecting the disability community and equity.