A new appointment was made to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s team Wednesday in Jackson Heights. Mamdani tapped Christine Clarke, a longtime litigator with experience fighting on behalf of New Yorkers in need, as chair of the Commission on Human Rights.
Clarke, the Chief of Litigation and Advocacy and member of the executive team of the largest civil legal services organization in the country, Legal Services NYC, pledged for more inclusion and vowed for greater equity for the disabled community right after the announcement.
“I spent a decade on and off working for Legal Services NYC, where I fought for people living in poverty, including people who simply cannot get ahead.” she said. “I fought for people to be free from discrimination in the workplace, in housing and for language access for immigrants and those who are deaf or hard of hearing when working with government agencies.”
She promised as chair of the commission to advocate for all.
“Ultimately no matter where you were born, what language you speak, religion you practice, whether you have a disability, your race or ethnicity, your gender identity or your sexual orientation, if you live here, you are New Yorkers,” she said. “And I promise, as the chair of the Commission on Human Rights, to work with you and to fight for you because the reality is that none of us can survive alone.”
“No one can feel safe in a society where businesses are incentivized to cut corners by not accommodating people’s disabilities or not working with employees who are caregivers or parents.”
Mayor Mamdani said that “the appointment’s intent is not to find violations in small businesses across the city and then charge them for it. The intent of this position is to ensure compliance with the law and that also means doing proactive outreach to small businesses so that they know what the rules are as opposed to levying fine and fee upon fine and fee on them and then asking them to pay up.”
George Gallego, a city business owner with a disability, said that “when Christine Clarke stated that ‘no one can feel safe when businesses cut corners on disability accommodations,’ she did something the mayor has not consistently done – she named disability. On that point, I agree with her completely. But I want to be clear about something that often gets lost in these conversations…
“There is no legitimate reason other than ignorance, fear, or unwillingness why a business owner should refuse reasonable modifications,” he said. “When you deny access, you don’t just exclude people; you leave money on the table, shrink your audience, and limit your impact.”
Mamdani has yet to announce who will lead the Mayor’s Office For People With Disabilities. Able News will be closely watching the new administration as they build staff to address issues affecting the disability community and equity.
Some in the disability community were disappointed that the mayor did not mention the community specifically in his inaugural speech last week, despite highlighting other specific groups. There were four ASL interpreters on site at the swearing-in ceremony.
Following Able News’ report about the mayor’s speech not highlighting the community, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion consultant Marcus Johnson assertively commented on LinkedIn: “Providing interpreters at an inauguration is important, but access without power is not equity,” he said. “Inclusion cannot be symbolic or selectively applied. If people with disabilities are not represented across all transition committees, advisory bodies, and senior appointments, then disability will continue to be treated as an afterthought rather than a core lens of governance.”