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2026 Testimony
The Chair/Commissioner and other members of the New York City Commission on Human Rights senior staff periodically testify before the City Council on issues involving the Commission and the NYC Human Rights Law.
May 27, 2026
Before the Committee on Finance & Committee on Civil and Human Rights
"While the Department of Transportation fills potholes, we make sure that New Yorkers who use wheelchairs and service dogs are able to utilize the buses that drive over those now-patched potholes. While HRA provides housing vouchers for people, we work to ensure that landlords do not turn those people away so that the promise of those vouchers are fully realized into stable, affordable tenancies. While HPD fights to create affordable housing in this city, we fight to make sure that people can keep the jobs they need to pay for that housing; and that families can actually access that housing regardless of their race, religion, national origin, disability, pregnancy, and more. Under the leadership of Mayor Mamdani, we are working hand-in-hand with other agencies and community partners to make this city more affordable, more equitable, and more livable for all New Yorkers."
April 28, 2026
Before the Committees on Civil and Human Rights: Fair Chance Oversight
"The NYC Human Right Law’s protections against discrimination on the basis of criminal history are groundbreaking. Today, we will speak about how the Commission educates New Yorkers about their expanded rights and works with housing providers and employers so they know and comply with evolving obligations. Since the passage of the Fair Chance employment protections in 2015, and its subsequent amendments, the Commission has continued to develop new initiatives to address this pervasive type of discrimination. I will begin with our dual mandate and then turn more specifically to the provisions of the Law and the agency’s efforts."
March 13, 2026
Before the Committees on Finance & Committee on Civil and Human Rights
"My name is Christine Clarke, and I serve as Chair and Commissioner of the New York City Commission on Human Rights (CCHR)… The rights protected by the New York City Human Rights Law are fundamental to an equitable society… These rights are currently under attack—broadly in society, fueled by a political atmosphere that encourages and incites hate and isolation, as well as with the tacit and even overt approval of the federal government. Moreover, as inequality has increases over the past few decades, those with the least suffer the most. Discrimination affects people in all walks of life, but the toll is unquestionably the greatest for individuals and families who have the least. And those who have the least access to financial resources also often find that they have the least access to justice. These are precisely the issues that I intend to make the focus of the Commission on Human Rights during my tenure as Chair and Commissioner."
February 25, 2026
Before the Committee to Combat Hate
"The Administration supports the intent of ensuring effective pathways for members of the public to report actionable hate and bias and to connect with resources to vindicate their rights. However, there is an existing city infrastructure to address bias and hate, and there are pathways for the public to report unlawful discrimination to CCHR and to report hate-based violence to the NYPD, as well as data reporting by agencies – which are all disaggregated in different ways. Accordingly, the Administration looks forward to learning more from stakeholders and to further dialogue with Council on how to most efficiently"