Press Room

NEW YORK: New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams advanced legislation in the City Council today which would prohibit discrimination in issuing credit and mandate transparency in the process. In a hearing of the Committees on Consumer and Worker Protection and Civil and Human Rights today, he argued the bill would protect against the kind of discrimination which has pervaded lending practices for decades.

“Currently, there are federal laws such as the Truth in Lending Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act that provide safeguards for consumers in their dealings with lenders and creditors,” said Public Advocate Williams. “The city should enact similar policies at the local level that fortify existing consumer protection laws.”

Specifically, the Public Advocate’s legislation, Intro 401, would prohibit discrimination based on an individual’s membership in a protected class in the issuance of credit and would require creditors to disclose to potential borrowers how their rate is calculated. It would deem it an unlawful discriminatory practice for any creditor or any officer, agent or employee to discriminate in the granting, withholding, extending or renewing of any form of credit on the basis of an applicant’s race, creed, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, age, gender, and disability, among other classifications.

The bill was originally introduced in 2016, following a $24 million settlement with Honda alleging that Honda creditors engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination. In the decade since, the problem has persisted, including a similar settlement with Citigroup in 2023 and ongoing suits against Wells Fargo and other lenders.

“Intro 401 could help hundreds of thousands of people applying for mortgages, small business loans, and other types of credit,” argued the Public Advocate. “Having in place a law that mandates transparency in how a person’s interest rate is calculated will also protect groups of people in this city that face historical discrimination and unfair treatment when it comes to banking, homeownership, and accessing financial opportunities.” Read the Public Advocate’s full statement to the committee below, and the text of Intro 401 here. 

STATEMENT OF PUBLIC ADVOCATE JUMAANE D. WILLIAMS TO THE NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON CONSUMER AND WORKER PROTECTION AND COMMITTEE ON CIVIL AND HUMAN RIGHTS FEBRUARY 29, 2024

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 Menin, Williams, and members of the Committees on Consumer and Worker Protection, and Civil and Human Rights for holding this hearing. 

Today, I will be speaking on Introduction 0401-2024, of which I am the prime sponsor. The bill would prohibit discrimination based on an individual’s membership in a protected class in the issuance of credit and would require creditors to disclose to potential borrowers how their rate is calculated. More specifically, the bill would deem it an unlawful discriminatory practice for any creditor or any officer, agent or employee to discriminate in the granting, withholding, extending or renewing of any form of credit on the basis of an applicant’s race, creed, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, age, gender, and disability, among other classifications.

I first introduced this bill during my tenure as a councilmember in 2016. The bill’s original introduction in 2016 was inspired by a $24 million settlement alleging that Honda creditors “engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination against African-American, Hispanic and Asian/Pacific Islander borrowers in auto lending.” It has been nearly ten years since the bill was introduced, and the need for it still remains. In 2023, Citigroup settled for $26 million for claims that its employees denied Armenian-Americans fair access to Citigroup credit cards. Mortgage lenders such as Wells Fargo and Navy Federal Credit Union also faced heightened scrutiny and lawsuits on their lending practices and pricing disparities, notably between Black and Latino homeowners and white homeowners. I met with Wells Fargo myself shortly before the news broke, and they vehemently tried to suggest this was not the case, while it was really clear that it is.

Currently, there are federal laws such as the Truth in Lending Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act that provide safeguards for consumers in their dealings with lenders and creditors. The city should enact similar policies at the local level that fortify existing consumer protection laws. Int. 0401-2024 could help hundreds of thousands of people applying for mortgages, small business loans, and other types of credit. Having in place a law that mandates transparency in how a person’s interest rate is calculated will also protect groups of people in this city that face historical discrimination and unfair treatment when it comes to banking, homeownership, and accessing financial opportunities. I urge my colleagues to sign onto this bill and hope for its subsequent passage. 

Thank you. 

NEW YORK: As both national and local leaders escalate an environment of anti-migrant sentiment and actions, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams released a review of the response to the arrival of migrants in the city from all levels of government, including the Office of Public Advocate. In the review, he calls on New Yorkers to reject the false assertions and attacks about the migrant population in the city and instead extend the compassion that is at our city’s core and history, and which has persisted even as elected officials and editorials have fanned falsehoods and resentment.

“Since the first buses arrived in our city, we have worked to welcome our newest New Yorkers. At the same time, over the last eighteen months, we have seen many missteps in management and a rising tide of resentment, exacerbated by fear mongering and a failure of the federal and state government to provide adequate support,” said Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams. “This review documents the city’s journey to help those who have journeyed so far in search of support – spotlighting shortcomings, highlighting recommendations, and appealing to both the shared compassion of our city and the leaders who can provide vital resources. We have to learn from the last year and a half of struggle to better aid the people struggling the most.”

The review, Welcoming Our Newest New Yorkers, highlights the timeline of city, state, and federal action to address the arrival of asylum seekers, from the arrival of the first bus at Port Authority through to the final weeks of 2023. It particularly notes the actions of the Public Advocate’s office and of the mayoral administration as the city’s response has changed in both policy and in tone. Policy changes are in large part due to the enormity of the issue and lack of adequate federal action, but changes in approach are still glaring.

Throughout the crisis, the Public Advocate and his team have been engaged in both pushing policy – including pushing back on bad policy –  and providing direct humanitarian connection and support: visiting shelters, providing supplies, and bringing the challenges of migrants not only to City Hall, but to Washington, D.C. The office has twice traveled to the capitol to meet with the White House, agencies, and legislators to advance an agenda of support, some of which has since been enacted. 

The review makes clear that this is an inflection point in response – with Donald Trump, Curtis Sliwa, and some city officials blaming migrants for crime, and the administration using the crisis as justification for budget cuts and harmful policies, it is clear that there is a risk of rising tide of resentment against asylum seekers. While frustrations are understandable, particularly among longtime New Yorkers in long-neglected Black and Brown communities, falsehoods cannot guide our city’s policy decisions or moral compass. It is vital to reject the notion that, if asylum seekers were not arriving in the city, these longstanding systemic issues would not persist. At the same time, this can be a moment to fundamentally address those systemic issues, including by helping people who have long been in city shelters to access permanent housing, which would alleviate strain on the shelter system. 

The Public Advocate urges a continued commitment to doing all we can, with all we have, to support migrants rather than impose suffering on people who have already come through danger – while pushing for the federal and state aid needed to do so effectively. The recommendations in the review for moving forward include:

Federal Asks:

• Increased support in clearing the backlog and wait times for asylum cases in order to expedite work authorization for asylum seekers
• Additional designations of Temporary Protected Status
• Comprehensive immigration reform, especially in regards to pathways to permanent residency and citizenship 
• Increased capacity and funding at the federal level for local providers to continue immigrant empowerment programs and legal services

City Legislation:

• Int. 0780-2022: Public Advocate Williams introduced legislation which would establish a commission to develop a citywide shelter siting plan for implementation
• LSR 4113-2022: Public Advocate Williams submitted a legislative request for a local law to mandate that all homeless shelters perform an “out-take” process whenever individuals and families are transitioning from one shelter location to another housing location.
• LSR 4667-2022: Public Advocate Williams submitted a legislative request for a local law requiring HPD to identify buildings, including hotels, that can quickly be repurposed into permanent housing for families with children and homeless youth through rehabilitation and construction for conversion.

Individual Actions:

• Donating items, including food, clothing, toiletries, school supplies and other
• Volunteering as interpreters, for legal aid, case management, and workforce training 
• Collaborating with local community -based organizations, elected officials, and houses of worship

The review argues that while the situation is untenable without federal action, the vilification and otherization of migrant populations is unacceptable, especially in a city of immigrants. This can be a moment of renewed compassion for our newest New Yorkers and commitment to avoiding the mistakes, missteps, and misguided attacks that have occurred throughout this time.  Read the full review and recommendations here.

"The mayor’s opposition to a law doesn’t make it optional. I commend the Speaker and Council for taking this step, even though it should never have reached this point. Expanding access to vouchers amid an affordable housing crisis should not be a point of contention. It is a common sense step that will have a positive impact on the lives of many New Yorkers – which is why the Council passed the package in the first place, then overrode the mayor’s misguided veto. Expanding voucher access is key to helping New Yorkers get out of shelters and into permanent housing – and in this moment, to help alleviate the shelter challenges related to the arrival of migrants.

"Beyond this specific resolution, this controversy casts doubt on the administration’s willingness or ability to implement the public safety reforms which the Council overrode into law last week, and could lead to New Yorkers further distrusting the ability of the administration to serve the city’s needs. I hope that the administration will now realize the need to rebuild that trust instead of continuing to oppose the laws that their partners in government overwhelmingly enact."

"As the proud son of Grenadian immigrants, I want to wish a Happy 50th Independence Anniversary to all who share heritage from Grenada, Carriacou, and Petite Martinique. I am forever proud of and shaped by my roots and the time I’ve spent on the Isle of Spice, and proud to join in the Golden Jubilee celebrations.

"In my work in New York City, home to tens of thousands of Grenadians, I celebrate and uplift the ways in which Grenadian culture has shaped our communities, and strive to honor the proud history of the island in my work for justice, equity, and liberty. We celebrate those values today, as we have throughout five decades of independence, and look to the promising future."

Following a Special Joint Sitting of Parliament in Grenada yesterday, the Public Advocate met with local dignitaries and presented the Prime Minister, the Hon. Dickon Mitchell, with a proclamation. Photos are available here.

"Our office has consistently raised the failures of management at NYCHA as the worst landlord in the city, but the charges today are nonetheless a staggering statement on the widespread abuses of power and tenant trust at the core of the agency’s deficiencies.

"The shameful conduct alleged ultimately harms not only tenant trust but tenant safety, as it corrupts the repair process and contributes to dangerous conditions at complexes across the city – which can prove deadly, as with the recent death from Legionnaires disease. As the legal process moves forward, accountability for bad actors and implementation of reforms are essential for NYCHA to prove its commitment to repairing both its buildings and the trust of the tenants paying to live there."

NEW YORK: New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams released the following statement after the City Council voted 42-9 to override vetoes of his legislation to ban solitary confinement in city jails and require basic policing transparency.

"These votes are a victory for transparency and public safety in our city, no matter what this administration would like New Yorkers to believe. Because of the advocates, the impacted individuals and families, the Speaker, City Council, and everyone who worked on this legislation, we have taken major steps forward in the difficult work of making our jails and our streets safer. It’s an important day for everyone committed to the hard work of advancing true public safety, made all the harder by a relentless misinformation campaign from this administration. It could take years to undo the damage from an intentional campaign of dishonesty. 

"The How Many Stops Act is a reporting bill. It is not the burden that the administration pretends it is – unless they choose to make it one. But let’s be clear, while the reporting is not as onerous as described, it is necessary and its impact is essential, building on the work of a decade ago and preventing us from going back to the bad old days. This isn’t preventing police work, it’s part of police work. It will help us get basic data on how policing practices are in effect on our streets, and craft public safety policy moving forward. It's clear we need change informed by data, not hysteria. 

"Banning the lasting vestiges of solitary confinement – and the use of isolation to try and change behavior– is a moral and governing imperative. Isolation causes lasting harm, causes recidivism, causes more violence, makes our jails less safe for people on both sides of the bars, and our city less safe. Our law allows for separation, for de-escalation, but not the harm which isolation is universally acknowledged to cause. Instead, it implements programming that might actually improve behavior and outcomes. We cannot keep the status quo of crisis on Rikers, and if we want different results, we have to do something different – but based on what we know can work.

"I sincerely hope that the administration will stop wasting time with misinformation and instead work with us on the most streamlined, effective way to implement these bills. The past several weeks of resources used to obstruct, and ultimately, to absurdly, dishonestly blame these bills for every unsafe incident in our city, have been harmful. We don’t have to guess the impact of how misinformation will work – too many who know better, including the mayor, have been doing it with bail reform for years despite evidence to the contrary — harming public safety discussions, public trust, and public policy in the process. When the public knows what these bills actually do, they support them, and the principles at their core. New Yorkers deserve to be safe and feel safe – these bills only serve to help achieve the first, while any continued misinformation and fear-mongering from the administration will prevent the second. 

"Having seen multiple vetoes overridden in just over two years in office, I hope that the mayor will now recognize the need to collaborate and prioritize true, holistic public safety solutions over politics."