With the backlog now eliminated and the Commission operating effectively, we have been able to focus more resources on identifying systemic patterns of discrimination. Our Law Enforcement Bureau conducts testing everyday throughout the City, with a focus on discrimination in housing. We currently have around 800 cases under investigation and continue to take in new complaints everyday.

We have also been able to concentrate on the service programs our Community Relations Bureau provides. Our Immigrant Employment Rights Program reaches out to the City's diverse communities to inform them of the protections they have under City and Federal law. We plan to expand the program to additional communities.

Staff members working in our Equal Access Program vigorously advocate on behalf of people with disabilities and the elderly. We have successfully negotiated over twenty accommodations during the last three months, including: a ramp and lift for a blind amputee in a Brooklyn apartment building; relocation of a disabled woman to a first floor apartment; the installation of a low window for wheelchair users in a Manhattan check-cashing business; and negotiating a pricing policy for disability seating at a chain of Broadway theaters.

NY 1 alerted us to a case that was especially moving. An elderly man who uses a wheelchair had been confined to his apartment for several months. The ramp outside his building was stolen and the management refused to replace it. We worked with the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities to obtain the necessary funds and within two months of the complaint, a new ramp was installed.

The Commission has also brought back its Training Institute to educate more individuals on the City's rigorous Human Rights Law. Additionally, we are meeting with interested principals about their school's participation in the Commission's Peer Mediation Program.
I invite you to browse our website, which now includes the full text of the Human Rights Law, and the Center for NY Law's website, www.citylaw.org, which contains all of our trial decisions since 1995.