Nothing about New York City\u2019s inaugural racial equity plan has gone to plan, but the long-awaited report finally came out early last month, and with the November budget update talks coming up, the city might put its money where its mouth is to fight systemic racism. In short, the plan should shape city spending toward bettering the lives of Black and Brown New Yorkers, who face the starkest disparities, for years to come.<\/p>\n
Afua Atta-Mensah<\/a>, the Mayor\u2019s Office of Equity and Racial Justice (MOERJ) commissioner and NYC chief equity officer, who leads the racial equity plan, echoed Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s belief in \u201chugging the cactus,\u201d or confronting the hardest issues first. She did not shy away from \u201crightful critiques\u201d over the city\u2019s perpetual delays, but believes the cycle is getting corrected \u201cin an iteration of action.\u201d The plan looks ahead as far as 2034, when Mamdani terms out if he is re-elected.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere are things all across the different agency plans that we absolutely are starting now,\u201d said Atta-Mensah. \u201cEven for the ones that have longer term deliverable dates, if we look at the citywide goals, we\u2019re asking to be judged by 2034. A lot of these issues [took] a long time to accrue. There [aren\u2019t] problems that started in a day and will not end there, but that doesn\u2019t mean we wait to start on our action steps and strategies for how to mitigate those issues.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to be measuring the disparity, moving from measurement to action of removing those hurdles that have been keeping those systems of disparate treatment and impact happening, and then assess how we\u2019ve done in that and continue to improve and shift as needed.\u201d<\/p>\n Mamdani himself pointed to addressing disparities in maternal health mortality, unemployment, and housing when the Amsterdam News asked him about the racial equity plan last month. \u201cThis is an all-of-city-government approach that has to include every single agency, and so that will be something that informs our budget as we get into it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The NYC Commission on Racial Equity (CORE) needs more convincing, however. The independent commission, which exists as a counterweight to MOERJ, reviewed the plan and found that it does not \u201cmeet the basic legal requirements.\u201d The response<\/a> called for a clearer outline about how policymakers could improve, invest in, and measure \u201cracially equitable outcomes in the lives of Black and Brown New Yorkers.\u201d By almost every measure, class-related disparities in city resources and services negatively affect them the most \u2014 and historically, by design.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEnslaved Africans literally built every part of the city. This is a moment where \u2026 we are legally required to focus on race,\u201d said CORE Executive Director Linda Tigani<\/a>. \u201cWe have an administration that is focusing on class and is using a universal approach to policies. That is essentially allowing us to escape our responsibility by law to invest in Black and Brown neighborhoods.\u201d<\/p>\n CORE\u2019s response also suggested that the MOERJ should develop a broader citywide plan and present uniform guidance about data disaggregation, which would specifically indicate the disparities that Black and Brown New Yorkers face at a more granular level. To be clear, the criticisms largely stem from the city\u2019s legal requirements for the plan.\u00a0<\/p>\n Atta-Mensah said MOERJ and the broader Mamdani administration are \u201caligned on the importance of disaggregated data\u201d but that different agencies may need uniquely tailored guidance about collecting numbers. \u201cThe city of New York is a big bureaucracy,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s not an excuse. That\u2019s just a reality. We know that there\u2019s not a right size fits all.\u201d<\/p>\n Tigani long maintained that \u201cracial equity was law\u201d here in New York City. The Racial Equity Plan stems from democratic practice: a successful ballot measure in 2022. Now, the city charter, New York City\u2019s municipal equivalent of the Constitution, enshrines both a biennial plan structured around the city budget timeline and the existence of CORE as an independent city commission tasked with reviewing the plan.\u00a0<\/p>\n Problems date back to former Mayor Eric Adams, who defied the mandates. The city\u2019s second-ever Black mayor never released a plan and slow-walked his appointments to the commission. CORE sued him<\/a> last year over the delays. The lawsuit carried over this year when Mamdani took office and a recent ruling in favor of the independent commission pressured the plan\u2019s release and ordered the city to cover CORE\u2019s legal expenses. It also found that both administrations allegedly violated the law.\u00a0<\/p>\n Fair or not, Mamdani was legally mandated to release the preliminary racial equity plan by roughly his second week in office this past January. He instead promised, and delivered on, publishing the preliminary plan within his first 100 days after appointing Atta-Mensah in his first month. Tigani criticized the timeline, which she says still violates the charter and prevented the plan from its intended purpose of dictating spring budget talks. The NY Supreme Court judge\u2019s ruling affirmed her stance.\u00a0<\/p>\n