Thursday, February 26, 2026, 10 a.m. (New York City time), 250 Broadway - 8th Floor - Hearing Room 1
Committee: Committee on Civil and Human Rights
The Committee on Civil and Human Rights, chaired by Council Member Sandy Nurse in her first hearing as chair, held an oversight hearing on budgeting for equity, examining the city's compliance with the 2022 charter amendments requiring biennial racial equity plans and an annual true cost of living measure. The Mayor's Office of Equity and Racial Justice (MOERJ) testified that the new administration is committed to releasing the first preliminary racial equity plan within the mayor's first 100 days in office and the true cost of living measure by the March 31 charter deadline. Linda Tigani, chair and executive director of the Commission on Racial Equity (CORE), testified that no plan has been issued for either the 2024–25 or 2026–27 planning cycles and that the delay prevents the city budget from being aligned with community equity priorities. The Independent Budget Office described demographic, geographic, and budget-structure data limitations that constrain equity analysis of the roughly $127 billion budget. Public speakers urged release of the plan and increased funding for the City Commission on Human Rights; no votes were taken and follow-up information was requested on several items. Council Members Lynn Schulman and Althea Stevens also questioned the panels, and the Public Advocate delivered a statement mid-hearing.
0:15 Thank you. Good morning.
0:15 Welcome to New York City
0:17 council hearing for the
0:18 comedian civil human rights,
0:19 please. Science also,
0:21 electronic devices. Move! Move
0:22 forward. No one is to approach
0:24 the days we are ready to begin
0:27 . Thank you. Good morning
0:29 ,everyone. I'm come. Remember
0:30 standing Nurse and I serve as
0:32 chair, too, of the committee
0:34 on civil and human rights.
0:35 This is my first hearing is
0:37 chair for this committee, so I
0:38 first want to thank our
0:39 wonderful committee staff who
0:40 are here at City Hall very
0:42 late last night for helping me
0:45 to get into shape on all
0:45 things civil and human rights
0:48 committee and also thank you
0:49 to my deputy chief of staff
0:50 brand, who is here supporting
0:51 me as well, and we are here
0:54 with council members lyn
0:56 nshulman, Crystal Hudson and I
0:57 saw Abreu around et me. I want
1:03 to congratuleat you,
1:04 commissioner, on your
1:06 appointment and looking
1:07 forward to working with you
1:08 and nice to meet you, deputy
1:10 commissioner. No gosh, my gosh
1:11 , I got it right?
1:13 Okay, also looking forward
1:16 to, um, the discussion later
1:16 with the commission on racial
1:18 equity with executive director
1:19 Linda to ghani and will hear
1:22 also later from logan clark
1:23 from the New York City
1:25 independent.
1:25 Budget office, so to
1:26 everyone else in the room
1:26 .thank you for being here. Nice
1:27 to meet you all the charter
1:31 reforms of 20 22 established a
1:33 biennial cycle of racial
1:36 equity planning and reporting
1:36 in conjunction with the city's
1:38 budgeting budget planning
1:41 process. This process is
1:42 intended to connect racial
1:43 equity commitments to
1:46 quantifiable outcome oriented
1:48 metrics, including resource
1:49 allocation and consistent
1:50 monitoring
1:51 . In addition, the Mayor and
1:52 the mayor's office of equity
1:53 and racial justice, also known
1:55 as m o r e j must issue a cost
1:58 of living measure each year by
2:02 March 31, this measure is
2:02 intended to provide a more
2:04 realistic estimate of the cost
2:05 of living in New York City
2:08 ,compared to traditional cost
2:09 of living measures so as t
2:11 oenable the finalized City
2:13 budget to more accuratel
2:14 yaccount for New yorkers actual
2:15 needs and struggles
2:18 ,unfortunately, no racia
2:19 lequity plans or progress
2:20 reports have ever been issued.
2:23 My opinion is one of the
2:24 biggest failures of the atoms
2:26 commission on racial equity or
2:31 core cannot fully perform its
2:33 charter mandate without a
2:35 comprehensive, transparent, a
2:36 measurable set of e. P
2:40 evaluate
2:40 . These charter reforms are
2:41 intended to promote
2:42 transparency and
2:43 accountability for City
2:44 government and in not issuing
2:45 them in a timely manner we
2:47 risk further damaging the
2:48 trust, the people of New York
2:49 have in their government
2:54 . While I recognize that the
2:54 timing of this hearing means
2:55 we are hearing from a brand
2:57 New administration with New
2:59 appointments, which has
3:00 inherited the delays of the
3:02 previous one, the atoms
3:04 administrations. Failure t
3:04 ocomply with the charter must
3:06 not prevent a transparent
3:09 examination of the city's
3:10 budget preparations and
3:11 negotiations for this year's
3:14 budget.
3:15 Today this committee will be
3:15 looking for an update from the
3:16 m e r. J on its progress in
3:18 bringing the City into
3:19 compliance with the charter,
3:21 the City has been working on
3:22 these plans for a while now
3:23 and there should be plenty of
3:24 action items and
3:25 recommendations that can be
3:28 discussed today. Sharing this
3:29 information is key to the
3:30 transparency and
3:33 counactability that are at the
3:34 heart of the racial equity
3:35 planning process. I also look
3:37 forward to hearing from core
3:38 about its plans and capacity
3:40 to evaluate the fiscal year 20
3:43 27 budget with or without
3:44 access to the city's racial
3:45 equity plans and true cost of
3:49 living metric. I'm hoping we
3:49 can have a productive and
3:50 meaningful conversation about
3:52 the progress and challenges of
3:53 this process to bette
3:54 runderstand how we can work
3:55 toward a more equitable City I
3:58 want to reiterate that I'm
4:00 looking forward to working
4:01 with everyone in this room.
4:03 The goal is to get the plans.
4:04 The goal is to achieve equity,
4:06 I hope you can see the cncilou
4:08 as a partner on this and as a
4:12 body to share in the problem
4:12 solving where we have
4:14 challenges, and I will now
4:16 pass it to.
4:17 Committee counsel t
4:17 oadminister the oath. Good
4:22 morning. Um, could you please
4:23 raise your right camps. Do you
4:28 swear to tell the truth, the
4:29 whole truth and nothing but
4:30 the truth today before this
4:38 committee. Yes, yes. Thank you
4:38 very much. You begin. Okay. Uh
4:44 , good morning cheer Nurse
4:45 members of the committees on
4:46 civil human rights members of
4:48 the council and the public. My
4:50 name is a theater. Mensa. Oh,
4:55 thank you. And I serve as New
4:55 York city's chief equity
4:57 officer and commissioner of
4:58 the mayor's office of equity
4:59 and racial justice. I am
5:01 pleased to be joined by bosh.
5:02 No gosh, deputy commissioner
5:04 and other members of the m o e
5:08 r j thank you for providing
5:09 media opportunity to speak
5:10 before this committee today
5:11 that properly introduce mysel
5:12 fand to provide inside and
5:15 about the work of the office
5:16 of equity and racial justice
5:19 prior to serving in this role
5:19 I had the privilege of working
5:21 with anne on behalf of low
5:22 income New yorkers as an
5:23 attorney with the legal aid
5:25 society and with other legal
5:27 services providers there after
5:28 I worked for a community heard
5:30 leading its efforts to build
5:31 the power of communities of
5:32 color across New York before
5:35 going on to serve as the chief
5:36 of programs for community
5:38 change a national power
5:39 building institution that
5:41 provides campaign advocacy
5:42 electoral in policy support to
5:44 grass roots organizations
5:44 across the country. Most
5:47 importantly, I am a New yorker
5:48 who believes deeply in the
5:50 transformative power of
5:51 individuals who come together
5:52 for their communities, and I
5:53 am committed to building a
5:54 just and equitable New York.
5:57 I think it is important t
5:58 oprovide some background on the
5:59 office of equity and racial
6:01 justice, which was established
6:02 as the City centralized office
6:03 that takes on an
6:04 intersectional approach t
6:05 oadvance equity across our City
6:08 . Our mandate is rooted in a
6:08 simple but powerful belief
6:10 that every New yorker deserves
6:12 the opportunity to live, work
6:13 and thrive with dignity to
6:16 realize that vision, hemo e r.
6:19 J brings together several key
6:22 initiatives and offices that
6:22 work across government t
6:24 otackle in equities experienced
6:25 by communities in our City
6:28 using various strategies from
6:29 policy and research to
6:30 advocacy and programs,
6:33 including the commission on
6:34 gender equity, which works t
6:34 oensure our City leads in the
6:37 development and implementation
6:37 of best practices and gender
6:39 equitable policies and
6:41 programs with a focus on
6:42 economic mobility, health and
6:45 safety. The unity project,
6:46 which works to address
6:48 inequities amongst lgbt New
6:49 yorkers, particularly youth of
6:51 people of color and t gnc nb
6:54 people as well as the New York
6:55 men's initiative and why I see
6:57 her future sibling offices
6:58 focused on addressing
7:00 inequities among young men of
7:00 color and young women of color
7:04 respectfully, respectively,
7:05 and education, employment,
7:06 health and justice. Our
7:08 existence as an office is one
7:09 that was guided by the will of
7:10 the people of the City New
7:12 yorkers overwhelmingly voted
7:14 to embed racial equity and
7:15 justice in our city's charter,
7:17 which included documenting a
7:18 vision and outlining a
7:19 statement of values to guide
7:20 how he carried out the work o
7:21 fgovernment and serve the
7:24 people establishing the
7:25 infrastructure to advance
7:26 equity, including the creation
7:27 of our office and the
7:28 commission on racial equity as
7:30 well as development of the New
7:32 York city's first citywide
7:33 racial equity plan and
7:35 ensuring we not only measure
7:36 what it costs to meet basic
7:37 s but to live with dignity
7:38 in our City. The previously
7:41 mentioned foundational values
7:42 and the preamble of the City
7:44 charter have served at the
7:45 offices, compass and urges all
7:47 in government to justly value
7:49 all talents and contributions
7:52 ensure the conditions for
7:53 thriving for every person and
7:55 embrace vigilance, remedy and
7:58 reconstruction as the office
7:59 charged with implementing
8:00 these mandates our team has
8:01 continued to translate our
8:03 values into action and uplift
8:04 these mandates with an eye
8:05 towards transforming
8:09 government as I shared a
8:09 nimportant part of the offices
8:10 .work is developing and
8:12 implementing the citywide
8:13 racial equity plan, including
8:16 individual agency, right
8:17 racial equity plants every two
8:18 years in progress reports
8:19 doing off years according t
8:22 oour charter, the city's plan
8:24 includes short and long term
8:26 goals outcome measures and
8:27 strategies to reduce racial
8:30 disparities. The commission on
8:31 racial equity works to ensur
8:32 ecommunity voices integrated
8:35 into the planning process
8:36 sharing community equity
8:38 priorities and outcome
8:39 indicators to inform the pla
8:39 nas it is crafted. The m o e r.
8:42 J team designed a planning
8:43 process aimed at moving
8:45 government towards equity and
8:48 justice together, this was not
8:49 designed as a compliance
8:50 exercise rather a uniqu
8:51 eopportunity for our City t
8:53 owork together, longer, work
8:55 together toward longer term
8:57 transformation over 4
8:58 0agencies in 200 plus staff
9:00 were engaged in the process
9:02 and they were asked to review
9:03 their priorities relative to
9:05 the foundational values of the
9:07 charter assess disparity data
9:09 and community equity
9:10 priorities and can you can
9:13 create short midterm and long
9:14 term goals and strategies that
9:18 are responsive. The office
9:19 supported agencies throughout
9:20 the process of developing
9:21 plans leading full day
9:23 training workshops. Developing
9:24 planning tools to guide the
9:27 process providing continuous
9:28 support throughout the process
9:29 in on one technical assistanc
9:35 e
9:35 . As a living an active plan b
9:36 aimed to continue working
9:37 together with City agencies
9:38 and all stakeholders upend the
9:40 ways in which structural
9:41 racism impacts our City now,
9:44 prior to embarking on the
9:46 citywide racial equity
9:47 planning process process that
9:48 I previously described the
9:48 office set up a framework t
9:51 oguide the planning process and
9:52 work to understand and build
9:54 on existing equity work across
9:57 the City explore the
9:58 approaches, successes and
10:00 challenges of other localities
10:02 advancing equity, including
10:03 philadelphia, dallas and
10:05 chicago and launch an advisory
10:06 board to guide the
10:08 implementation of the racial
10:09 justice charter amendments
10:11 focusing on the City wide
10:12 racial equity plan, the board
10:14 convened over a dozen members,
10:16 including local nonprofit
10:17 leaders civil rights trail
10:19 blazers and former government
10:21 leaders who understand
10:23 municipal operations with that
10:24 guidance and support the
10:25 office was committed to
10:27 building a strategic framework
10:28 necessary to not only advanced
10:30 equity but support structural
10:33 reform. This required the
10:34 office to ensure the framework
10:35 addressed the core lovers of
10:37 government, so the plan is
10:40 sustainable. This meant
10:41 centering things like service
10:43 delivery, staffing,
10:43 contracting and budgeting from
10:47 inception. This required
10:48 integrating these core lovers
10:49 into the process and with
10:50 regards to budgeting, working
10:52 with agencies to consider if
10:53 and how they allocate funds in
10:56 their budget to remedy
10:57 disinvestment and past harm as
10:59 they contemplated how to
11:01 approach their agencies plan
11:02 and begin to develop it.
11:04 This can mean reallocating
11:05 funds to meet the needs of
11:07 historically marginalized
11:09 communities, expanding
11:10 services and key neighborhoods
11:11 experiencing law of
11:12 disparities and more
11:15 . Given this is a living
11:16 process and we will continue
11:17 to refine and add to work m o
11:19 e r. J has also continued to
11:21 engage in equity and budgeting
11:22 discussions over the last year
11:24 , including discussions with
11:26 academic institutions like the
11:27 New school on the development
11:29 and implementation of equit
11:29 yand budgeting tools as well as
11:32 attending and participating in
11:33 two events in 20 25 co hosted
11:36 by the New school institute on
11:37 race power and political
11:38 economy and and commission on
11:43 racial equity.
11:43 As we continue moving thi
11:44 sprocess forward. We are
11:45 committed to collaborating
11:46 with our budget colleagues to
11:48 integrate racial equity into
11:50 the budgeting process by
11:51 continuing to move City
11:53 agencies to center equity in
11:54 their own budget planning and
11:57 decision making as New needs
11:57 are just a fraction of the
11:58 budget and working with our
12:00 city's budget office to review
12:02 agency requests with the lens
12:03 that evaluates if and how
12:04 proposals advanced equity.
12:08 As the Mayor shared on his
12:09 fifteenth day in office, our
12:10 administration is committed t
12:11 oreleasing the city's first
12:13 preliminary racial equity plan
12:14 during his first 100 days in
12:17 office. We look forward to
12:18 releasing the plan, finalizing
12:20 it with the input of the
12:21 public as well as
12:22 collaborating with our agency
12:24 partners on implementation of
12:26 of progress and continuous
12:27 improvements to eliminate
12:30 racial disparities
12:31 . As a City leader three weeks
12:31 into my role. I am learning a
12:32 lot about this office and its
12:36 current work. I also recognize
12:37 this is a living plan and the