NEW YORK – New York City has eight new laws, signed into law by Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday, that aim to address wage disparities in the city’s municipal workforce and support New Yorkers living with a disabilities who reside in shelters or affordable housing.
“Our city workers keep New York City moving, working around the clock in all five boroughs to make sure New Yorkers get the services they need. The first set of bills will help reduce wage disparities within our city’s workforce, so that all workers are paid fairly,” said Mayor Adams. “This second package will strengthen our efforts to support New Yorkers with disabilities. Our city needs to be accessible to everyone, and these bills will make our buildings, shelters and affordable housing more accessible, welcoming and livable for everyone.
Here we explain the laws:
- Introduction 515-A: Requires municipal agencies’ annual employment plans to include compensation information and efforts to address pay disparities within their workforce.
- Introduction 527-A: Demands that DCAS assess its efforts to provide equal opportunity to a diverse universe of candidates for municipal employment.
- Introduction 541-A: Amends existing pay equity law by requiring DCAS to collect and share additional data with City Council in an effort to identify and address pay disparities within the city’s workforce .
- Introduction 92-A: Creates an accessibility council to advise and make recommendations to the mayor, city council and city agencies on ways to increase accessibility for clients living in city shelters.
- Introduction 141-A: Requires signage at each entrance or exit to a building that requires energy-efficient, power-operated, or power-assisted doors directing people to that door.
- Introduction 375-A: Requires HPD to report every three years on the number of its affordable housing units designated for persons with disabilities and rented to persons with disabilities.
- Introduction 676-A: Requires HPD to develop a list of universal design features and requires developers receiving city financial assistance to incorporate universal design into all housing units of new housing development projects.
- Introduction 421-A: Requires the New York City Department of Homeless Services to produce a quarterly report on families with children living in shelters and include the number of families in each type of shelter, their average length of stay, the number of departures for permanent housing and measures of enrollment and school attendance.