The Neighborhood Human Rights Program (NHRP) helps cultivate mutual understanding and respect among New York City’s many communities. The NHRP works on a grassroots level with block, tenant, merchant and civic groups to improve and stabilize their communities.

The NHRP has field offices in Brooklyn, The Bronx, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island. These field offices have borough wide responsibilities that include identifying areas at risk for intergroup tension and conflicts, supporting multi-ethnic coalitions and developing long-term programs on leadership, cultural diversity and ethnic sensitivity training. Major areas of focus include issues such as fair housing, equal treatment in employment and public accommodations, community development, equal access, and human dignity.

The NHRP conducts many educational and intervention programs that target specific issues or populations including:

Equal Access

This program provides disability access assistance and education to senior citizens and the disabled community. Many of New York’s buildings, stores and other public accommodations are not accessible to people with disabilities. This program assists the disabled by identifying resources that are available, advocating on their behalf when dealing with landlords and/or service providers, and assisting them with legal actions if early intervention fails.

Immigrant Employment Rights Education

The Commission on Human Rights and the New York Immigration Coalition are co-sponsors of the Immigration Employment Rights Project (IERP). IERP provides training for immigrant workers, employers and immigrant advocacy organizations to advise them of their rights and responsibilities under the Law. For example, it is illegal for employers, landlords, businesses or services to treat immigrants differently because they might “appear” or “sound” foreign or to reject proper work authorization and identity documents from immigrants.

School Program

Designed for middle, high school and college students, the school program includes three workshops: the NYC Human Rights Law, Sexual Harassment and Resolving Conflict, including Cyberbullying. Each workshop includes an overview of how the law applies to the areas of employment, housing, and public accommodations and the various protected classes (e.g. race, religion, gender, or national origin). The workshops range from three to six sessions.

The Commission also offers a 10 session Peer Mediation training program for middle and high school student.

Fair Housing / Mortgage Counseling

The Commission participates in many activities to promote fair housing – equal housing opportunity under the law. These activities include: fair housing trainings for housing providers and protected groups; resolution of informal housing complaints; investigation of unlawful real estate practices; and technical assistance to tenants as part of the Citywise Task Force on Housing Court.

The Commission is a HUD-certified housing counseling agency and gives free one-on-one mortgage counseling for individuals in danger of losing their homes. Counselors help clients understand their situation, talk about workout options, and negotiate with lenders on your behalf.

Human Rights Specialists from the Commission’s Borough offices visit community events and meetings.