Press Room

Mayor Eric Adams traveled to the capital today to meet with legislators and Secretary Mayorkas on the challenges surrounding asylum seekers in New York City. Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams, who met Wednesday with the White House Domestic Policy Council and the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness to push for federal action to support asylum seekers and housing solutions, released the following statement on the mayor’s trip:

“I am glad to see the mayor return to D.C. with a further push for federal action after my office’s trip yesterday. Our city has a moral and legal obligation to provide shelter and services to people who arrive here seeking asylum, and we cannot back away from that responsibility. The federal government must commit resources and enact policies that help our city and country welcome migrants with dignity and support.

“As I discussed with the White House yesterday, we need expanded infrastructural support in New York City and throughout the country, additional resources for the city, expedited work authorization, improved language access and expanded Temporary Protected Status including for Black migrants, and increased access to legal representation for our new and aspiring New Yorkers. I urge the mayor to reinforce our office’s calls today, and advance an approach in our city and beyond which focuses on meeting the urgent needs of the people coming to our country, rather than denying or deferring them.”

Read more about the Public Advocate’s meetings with the White House and the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness.

WASHINGTON, DC: This morning, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams met with representatives from the White House Domestic Policy Council, including Director Neera Tanden and former Secretary and Senior Advisor Tom Perez, to review ways that the federal government can support people seeking asylum in New York City and provide the city resources and infrastructural aid. They discussed expediting work authorization, improving language access, expanding Temporary Protected Status, increasing access to legal representation, and more. This White House meeting follows the Public Advocate’s trip to Washington D.C. in April, where he met with a range of legislators on the issue. Read more about the office’s federal requests here.

The Public Advocate released the following statement after the meeting:

“Supporting migrants seeking asylum is a national issue with an acute impact on New York City, and I’m glad to have had the opportunity to lift up the voices and concerns of asylum seekers and advocates on the ground to the White House. After over a year without adequate support for the city, we desperately need federal action that meets the scope and urgency of this moment in order to uphold our moral obligation to support our newest New Yorkers. It’s important for our national leaders to understand the impact and immediacy of these issues, and to partner with local leaders to deliver resources and results.

“I’m grateful to the White House for their receptiveness to our concerns and their commitment to advancing the conversation – my office will continue to serve as a connection between the people making decisions in Washington and the people most impacted by their policies in our city.”  

This afternoon, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams met with representatives from the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness to discuss federal actions which can address the ongoing housing and homelessness crisis in New York City, particularly in light of the challenges to housing asylum seekers. Among the topics were requests to develop new Neighborhood Area Median Income metrics, fully fund public housing, improve federal procurement and appraisal policies, and implement All In, a federal plan to end homelessness in New York City.

Following the meeting, the Public Advocate released the following statement:

“Before the first bus arrived at Port Authority, there were already 50,000 New Yorkers living in shelters – the housing and homelessness crisis is as entrenched as the systems that drive it. I want to thank the Council for meeting with us to discuss federal solutions to a crisis replicated across the country and create deeply affordable, accessible, income-targeted housing. NYCHA needs more money, our systems need more equity, and we need housing policies grounded in the realities of unaffordability, rather than outdated and inaccurate AMI measures. There is a great deal we can and must do on the city and state level to help people get off the streets, out of shelters, and into permanent homes, but some efforts require federal commitment of resources and federal changes to policy. I look forward to continuing the conversation and the work with our federal partners.”

Read more about the office’s federal housing requests here. The Public Advocate also met earlier Wednesday with the White House Domestic Policy Council to discuss supporting asylum seekers in New York City- read more about that here.

Mayor Eric Adams signed legislation today from Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams to require the city to screen incarcerated individuals for dyslexia within city jails and provide appropriate interventions. The new law will help to expand educational and health services, improve programming inside city jails, and reduce recidivism upon release.

Specifically, Int. 349-A will mandate that the Department of Correction to provide dyslexia screenings for individuals under the age of 22 years old within 72 hours of intake who self-report that they do not have a high school diploma or its equivalent. This requirement will expand to include all incarcerated people by December 31, 2025. This law will then require the city to offer evidence-based intervention programs to individuals who are diagnosed with dyslexia during the screening. The legislation builds upon the federal First Step Act of 2018, which mandated dyslexia screening in federal prisons.

“A great deal of work needs to be done on Rikers, and the foundations on which the system was built were not designed to truly support the needs or well-being of people on the inside. Dyslexia is already under-discussed – and likely under-diagnosed – in our city, and evidence suggests that this problem is exponentially worse among incarcerated people. By screening and servicing affected individuals, we can help correct an educational services gap that should have been addressed long ago, providing new opportunities for people on the inside and helping to prevent them from re-entering the criminal justice system in the future," said Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams. "Identifying and addressing dyslexia and illiteracy through trained educators will make time while incarcerated more positive, and employment after incarceration more accessible. If we had done a better job as a city of meeting this need early in New Yorkers' education, we may have prevented many people from contact with the system in the first place. I thank the Mayor for signing this key legislation."

The enacting of this law comes as reports have shown that incarcerated individuals often do not receive the support they need related to dyslexia, despite many individuals who are incarcerated having the learning disability. Dyslexia is a major contributing factor to illiteracy, which in turn is often correlated to contact with the criminal justice system. While studies vary, data has shown that as many as one third to half of incarcerated people in some prisons may have dyslexia. As many as 80% may have difficulty with reading comprehension.

Addressing dyslexia while incarcerated would also help New Yorkers secure employment upon their release, a cause that the Public Advocate has advanced through the Fair Chance Act and its expansion. A study found that incarcerated people who took part in education programs were 43 percent less likely to commit crimes following their time incarcerated.

More information on the bill is available here.

As the crisis on Rikers Island continues, with the federal monitor calling for the Department of Correction (DOC) to be held in contempt, the New York City Council will vote today on Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams' bill to provide transparency, accountability, and support for transgender New Yorkers held in city jails. The bill was unanimously approved by the Committee on Criminal Justice this morning.

The legislation, Intro 887-B, would require the DOC to regularly report on information related to individuals in custody whose gender identity is different from the sex assigned to the individual at birth, including, transgender, gender nonconforming, non-binary, or intersex individuals. The department would be required to report information regarding such individuals’ housing placements, denials of requests for housing that most closely aligns with a person’s gender identity, and involuntary transfers from housing most closely aligns with a person’s gender identity.

“In a space that is dangerous for people on both sides of the bars, transgender and gender non-conforming people face even greater threats and challenges,” said Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams on the bill. “This legislation is designed to help ensure that TGNCNBI people are receiving the services and accommodations they are entitled to, and provide a metric for accountability when those needs are not met. TGNCNBI people deserve the same respect and dignity as their cisgender peers, and this is not negated when they are incarcerated. We have seen the tragic results of a failure to recognize and address this, and until DOC makes changes to ensure that city jails are safe for everyone, we will continue to lose valuable members of our communities.”

Nearly one in six transgender, gender non-conforming, non-binary, and intersex (TGNCNBI) people has been to prison. Too often, departments of correction do not house TGNCNBI people in populations consistent with their gender identities, and instead isolate them or place them in housing units according to the sex they were assigned at birth, regardless of whether that aligns with their gender identity or if they have medically transitioned. In part because of this, TGNCNBI people are far more likely to be victims of physical, sexual, and verbal abuse while incarcerated.

Before the vote, the Public Advocate specifically highlighted a current case in which a public defender with seven clients on Rikers who are transgender women placed in men's housing units. All remain in those units despite the efforts of the attorney and the fact that the women have been repeatedly sexually and physically assaulted. He called for the administration to immediately transfer them to gender-aligned housing and noted that "Failure to do so signals to all DOC staff that their failure to assign individuals to requested gender-aligned housing—and the violence that comes as a consequence—is an acceptable practice."

Since its inception, the Department of Correction’s LGBTQ+ Affairs Unit has made genuine improvements for LGBT and TGNC New Yorkers incarcerated on Rikers Island, creating safe housing and recreation spaces behind bars. Unfortunately, over the past year and under a new administration, the unit has reportedly been weakened. Trans women have struggled to transfer out of male facilities, where they can face relentless sexual harassment and assault. According to an August report by a Board of Correction task force, of the 41 people whose gender identities the task force knew, 63 percent were in housing misaligned with their gender identities, including 58 percent of trans women and 100 percent of trans men.

Arguably the most well-known example of the abuse and disrespect experienced by TGNCNBI people incarcerated at Rikers is the tragic 2019 death of Layleen Polanco, a transgender woman whom DOC refused to house in general population with cisgender women, who died alone in solitary confinement despite her known history of seizures. In addition to today’s legislation, the Public Advocate is the lead sponsor of Intro 549, which would ban solitary confinement in city jails.

After releasing 'Orange Sky, Red Alert' – a report on the city’s response to the air quality emergencies– the Public Advocate spoke at a City Council oversight hearing today on the same topic. He released the following statement after questioning NYC Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol about the administration’s actions.

“The Adams administration seems to be the only people in New York who believe that their response to the city’s air quality emergency was appropriate given the information we had and the hazards we faced. Their consistent refusal to admit errors or inadequacies can prevent reforms that would better inform and protect New Yorkers. 

We all agree that the air quality was ultimately worse than was forecasted. That is not an excuse for failure to inform New Yorkers in advance about the potential for unhealthy air and precautions they could take. Additionally, the commissioner repeatedly insisted that the forecasted quality only endangered “sensitive groups” – yet failed to provide any evidence that these groups, or the city at large, was made aware of this danger. New Yorkers had little knowledge, context, or protections before the sky burned orange, because the administration had not proactively primed the public with information as it would with any other climate hazard.  

My office’s report lays out a series of recommendations for practices and protections moving forward, and I would be eager to partner with the administration to implement them. In fact, the second time the air quality deteriorated, the city’s response was more proactive. But in order for government to work together to address problems, we have to be ready to admit that those problems exist.”

Video of the Council hearing is available here. The Public Advocate Advocate's opening statement begins at 00:10:21, and his discussion with Commissioner Zach Iscol begins at 01:11:12. The full opening statement as delivered is below, and Orange Sky, Red Alert can be downloaded here.

TESTIMONY OF PUBLIC ADVOCATE JUMAANE D. WILLIAMS TO THE NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEES ON HEALTH, OVERSIGHT AND INVESTIGATIONS, AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION, RESILIENCY AND WATERFRONTS

JULY 12, 2023

Good morning, 

My name is Jumaane D. Williams, and I am the Public Advocate for the City of New York. I would like to thank Chairs Schulman, Brewer and Gennaro and the members of the Committees on Health, Oversight and Investigations and Environmental Protection, Resiliency and Waterfronts for holding this important hearing. 

Just four weeks ago, our city faced an unprecedented air quality crisis when smoke from over 400 wildfires in Canada were pushed into our city. Unlike our West Coast sister cities, who routinely deal with wildfire smoke and its harmful effects due to drought and long wildfire seasons, New Yorkers were not prepared for the poor air quality that arose during the week of June 4th. The COVID-19 pandemic should have prepared us in delivering speedy communication around this issue; instead, the failure to prepare and respond to this event was not only a failure at the city level but at all levels of government. 

Over the past few weeks, my office has been corresponding with officials from West Coast municipalities like Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and San Diego, gathering best practices and resources on how New York City can best respond to this crisis when it arises in the future. As we’ve seen over these past few weeks, with a mere shift of the wind, wildfire smoke has the ability to impact New Yorkers’ daily life and we must be prepared to meet those instances as they arise. From these conversations, we compiled a list of recommendations, which can be read in our report “Orange Sky, Red Alert”, that we urge our city and state partners to implement in order to proactively respond to these air quality issues as they arise. This report also finds shortcomings in the city’s response to the air quality emergency, and particularly the lack of speed and scope of our public notification system and hazard mitigation efforts.

As we’ve seen, climate change is rapidly reshaping natural hazards at an alarming rate of pace and it will not wait for us to be prepared. But it is no longer enough to reflect and develop plans for what we’ve already encountered thus far, we must also anticipate and prepare for the unforeseen in order to keep our city safe and healthy.

I do want to just say, notwithstanding the mayor’s comments that folks are criticizing just to criticize – nothing could be further from the truth – it is part of my job to review what the city is doing and make sure that we can do things better. 

I also just want to put out there – I don’t think there’s any way any of us could have been prepared for a sky on fire and how poor the air quality was at that time. What I have focused on is preparation, information, and communication, and it does seem that we were not prepared to communicate as effectively and accurately as we could have. I noticed in the op-ed that information was sent out, I think that is true. I just want to be clear that NotifyNYC is not the most effective way to put information out there. When the Yankee game happened the day before, we had reached levels of 200. And so they should have been more effective and more urgent to let people know how bad the air quality was at that time. When it is 200, it is starting to be dangerous for members of the general public, not just those with underlying conditions. 

During COVID, we saw press conferences daily that helped us back up our communications. I think had the mayor and commissioner done a press conference sooner, and really dug into how bad the air quality might be, we would have had a better chance to understand what to do when the sky caught on fire.