Good morning, please settle down.

We are about to begin shortly.

Thank

you.

Good morning.

Welcome to the Committee on Disabilities joint with civil and human rights.

At this time, we ask that you please silence all electronics.

If you wish to testify, please see one of the sergeant at arms in the back.

And at no point, please do not approach today's.

Chair, you may begin.

Good morning.

I'm

Councilmember Shahana Hanif, Chair of the Committee on Disabilities.

I'm a brown woman in my mid-30s with long black curly hair.

I'm wearing a red power suit, and I'm seated behind the Dais.

Welcome to today's joint oversight hearing with the Committee on Civil and Human Rights, where we will examine disability discrimination enforcement trends at the New York City Commission on Human Rights or CCHR.

Thank you to Chair Nurse for partnering with us on this important hearing.

Millions of New Yorkers live with disabilities, and disability discrimination is now the most common basis of claims filed with CCHR.

New York City has some of the strongest civil rights protections in the country.

Our human rights law provides broader protections for people with disabilities than state or federal law, including the right to reasonable accommodations and a good faith cooperative dialogue with employers, landlords, and businesses, and their accessibility needs.

But strong protections on paper mean very little if New Yorkers cannot access them in practice.

Rights without meaningful enforcement are promises unfulfilled.

In August, CCHR issued a ruling in a case involving a tenant who spent more than four years requesting a ramp or lift so he could safely leave his apartment.

And in some cases, those delays have irreversible consequences.

Today we intend to examine several critical questions.

Two, what concrete steps has the agency taken to implement the state compontroller's recommendations and address its growing backlog.

And finally, what additional resources, data, transparency, or policy reforms are necessary to ensure that New Yorkers receive timely relief.

Intro 1107, which I am proud to sponsor, would require guidance and public education regarding service animal access and places of public accommodation.

And that bill is particularly important as CCHR recently reached a settlement with the MTA following allegations of harassment and discrimination against people traveling with service animals on city buses.

This legislation seeks to make existing protections clearer and more accessible to the public and businesses alike.

Rezo 510, sponsored by Councilmember Julie One would declare June 18 autistic Pride Day in New York City, recognizing and celebrating autistic New Yorkers and their contributions to our communities.

And finally, RESO 665, which I'm also proud to sponsor, calls on the United States Senate to approve and the President to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its optional protocol as we mark the convention's 20th anniversary.

The convention, the convention, excuse me, affirms that disability rights are human rights and that people with disabilities deserve full and equal participation in every aspect of society.

20 years after its adoption, the United States still has not ratified it.

That failure is long overdue for correction.

I'd like to acknowledge my colleagues who've joined us, Councilmember Tiffany Caban, Councilmember Harvey Epstein.

Thank you to the administration for being here today and to the disability advocates, service providers, healthcare workers, and members of the public who have come to testify or submitted written testimony.

Your presence here is an act of self-advocacy, and we do not take it for granted.

Thank you to the committee staff who have made today's hearing possible, including senior legislative counsel, Sarah Sucher, and senior legislative policy analyst, Chloe Rivera, my senior advisor Emmett Turan, communications director Simone Lavin, and legislative fellow Teyuda Muai.

And now I will turn it over to Chair Nurse for her opening remarks.

All right, good morning, everyone.

Happy Friday.

My name is Sandy Nurse.

I'm chair of the Civil and Human Rights Committee.

I want to start by first thanking my co-chair, Councilmember Hanif.

And as she just mentioned in her own opening statement, the Commission on Human Rights has reported that disability is the most common basis of claims filed amongst protected classes.

Something I wish to emphasize for everyone here is that CCHR is a relatively small agency tasked with a very large mandate.

We totally recognize that.

It is the enforcement agency for one of the most expansive human rights laws in the country.

Perhaps most importantly, the people they serve often don't have any other way to enforce their rights because they may not be able to afford a private attorney, so CCHR's work is also very much an issue of economic justice.

The heartbreaking story that Chair Hanif shared about someone who died while waiting years for a disability accommodation emphasizes something we already know to be true, which is that justice delayed is justice denied.

That is why our main goals today are so important.

We hope this hearing will shine a light on how CCHR's resources and organizational structure have real tangible impacts on how people with disabilities can enjoy access to secure housing, employment, and day-to-day necessities without discrimination or undue disadvantage.

My co-chair noted CCHR's recent reorganization, something that I'm hoping will be able to positively impact its workflows, and this is something we've discussed in multiple hearings before, and especially how quickly people can have their complaints resolved.

At the end of the day, that is what's most important is that there is relief for those facing discrimination and hardships due to discrimination.

For a lot of New Yorkers, these issues impact their lives on a day-to-day basis.

They often have a detrimental snowball effect.

For example, someone unable to leave their home due to a lack of a possible accommodation may then be unable to get to work, lowering their income, and starting a series of events.

At times in emergency situations, it can cost them their life or their health.

I recognize that not every situation is this dire, but we still believe it's important to know that some situations are and many have the potential to get to that point.