Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday picked a lawyer who has worked on lawsuits against New York City agencies, including its Police Department and public housing authority, to chair a commission responsible for enforcing human rights.
Mr. Mamdani’s pick to lead the city’s Commission on Human Rights, Christine Clarke, is another step toward filling out his new administration. The commission investigates complaints of unlawful incidents of discrimination and educates the public about the nuances of New York’s human rights law.
The appointment of Ms. Clarke, the chief of litigation and advocacy of Legal Services NYC, a nonprofit organization that provides free legal assistance to low-income New Yorkers, also gave Mr. Mamdani the opportunity to lean into the issue of income inequality that was central to his campaign for mayor.
“For nearly 82 years, no matter its name, the City Commission on Human Rights has done the vital work of protecting human rights in our city, of delivering justice,” Mr. Mamdani said, speaking from an area in Jackson Heights, Queens, that is known as Diversity Plaza because of the vast range of countries represented by its stores and vendors. “That work has never been more important, and the person entrusted to lead it has never been more important either.”
At Legal Services NYC, Ms. Clarke worked on a federal discrimination lawsuit against the city filed by several survivors of domestic violence who claimed the police had violated their civil rights by denying them interpreters.
The ensuing settlement called for new practices for the Police Department, and mandated training for officers responding to domestic violence cases involving people who are not proficient in English.
Mr. Mamdani and Ms. Clarke vowed on Wednesday to beef up what is commonly regarded by critics as a lackluster commission, low on funds and slow to respond to discrimination cases. Last month, Thomas P. DiNapoli, the state comptroller, issued an audit that found the commission had “allowed some housing discrimination cases to sit at times for years without resolution.”
In response to a reporter’s question, Ms. Clarke acknowledged “enormous delays in the Commission on Human Rights” and vowed to speed up its output.
Ms. Clarke will report to Julie Su, Mr. Mamdani’s deputy mayor for economic justice — a new role created by the mayor to push for fair wages and other measures to help employees.
“I’ve moved around a lot in my life, but the only place that ever felt like home to me was New York City, and it was precisely because of the diversity, because of the embrace of all people,” Ms. Clarke said on Wednesday. “As soon as you decide that this is your home, you belong here as much as anybody else.”
The post Mamdani Names Lawyer Who Fought N.Y.C. Agencies to Human Rights Post appeared first on New York Times.
