New Yorkers with a disability should have the same opportunities for meaningful employment and that is one goal of Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, who joined Able News this week in an exclusive interview.
Mamdani, who was elected as the city’s youngest mayor in November, joined staff reporter Christopher Alvarez at his Manhattan office and discussed several topics impacting the disability community including transportation, housing and employment.
This is the first part of a series on the 20 minutes spent with Mayor-elect Mamdani, who has gained international attention as he prepares to lead the city in January. New York City’s workforce, where disabled workers are more likely to work part-time and earn less, was among one of the major topics discussed. A 2024 city comptroller’s report found that the disability employment rate in New York City is half that of non-disabled New Yorkers.
Mamdani vowed to make city staff more inclusive.
“I think this is something that I’ve heard from many New Yorkers, is too often, the only kinds of jobs that they think they have the ability to get are the ones that have their identity in the title of the job that has some signifier of who they are in the title of that position,” incoming mayor Mamdani told Able News. “And disabled New Yorkers are like any New Yorker across the city where they have a place in leading our city and in being considered for roles that extend beyond those that are considered of innate importance only to disabled New Yorkers.”
For disabled New Yorkers, employment barriers start at the first point of entry– the application process. Of the almost 986,000 New Yorkers with disabilities, nearly 70% are people of color. Persistent barriers in hiring and wage equity remain key concerns — issues that Mamdani has said he intends to address.
He’s opened an employment portal that has received more than 70,000 applications so far.
“I would encourage disabled New Yorkers who are interested to apply through that portal, because we want this to be a reflection of the best that New York City has to offer,” he said. “We see that disabled New Yorkers are disproportionately represented in certain kinds of industries, certain levels of those industries, especially in service work,” he said. “And what I’m also hearing from you is the importance of that reflection being at every single level of government – not just the ones that have historically been the case.”
So far, Dr. Sharon McLennon Wier is representing the disability community, having been appointed to serve on the mayor-elect’s Committee on Social Services. Dr. Wier, a blind disability advocate and human service provider for almost 29 years, serves as the Executive Director of The Center for Independence of the Disabled, New York (CIDNY). She called the committee appointment “an honor.”
Stay tuned as Able News shares more highlights from the interview with Mamdani in coming days – including his take on housing, transportation and immigration as it relates to people with disabilities. And watch for news on Dr. Wier’s appointment and her thoughts on inclusion as she serves in the new administration.
This story is the first in a multi-part Able News series from a 20-minute sit-down with Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani.