Johnson Releases Troubling Results of City Payroll Analysis
Yesterday, City Council Speaker Corey Johnson (D-Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen) announced the results of a preliminary analysis of City employee payroll data; the data revealed sharp disparities in pay based on gender, race and ethnicity.
The analysis studied the salaries of more than 180,000 full-time City workers. From that, it derived the following:
- Male employees average $4,500 more per year than female ones;
- Black employees average $7,600 less per year than white ones;
- Asian employees average $6,500 less per year than white ones;
- and Hispanic/Latino employees average $8,700 less per year than non-Hispanic/Latino ones.
The data was made public thanks to Local Law 18, which requires that the Mayor’s Office of Data Analytics (MODA) issues anonymized payroll data on the City workforce every year.
“These preliminary findings are troubling and show exactly why Local Law 18 of 2019 was so important,” said Johnson. “For too long, the many contributions of women and people of color have been short-changed. It’s incumbent on all of us to make sure we are working to right those wrongs, and address the biases and discriminatory practices that contribute to pay and opportunity gaps.”
Nadler Release Report on Trump Admin Family Separation Policy
Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee, chaired by U.S. Reps. Jerrold Nadler (D-Manhattan, Brooklyn), released the findings of a 21-month investigation into the Trump Administration’s family separation policy at the border.
The investigation found that the policy, which separated 2,500 migrant children from their parents, was marked by “reckless incompetence and intentional cruelty,” to quote the report. Furthermore, administration officials knew that the federal government lacked the wherewithal to track separated family members, but continued with the policy anyway.
“The Committee’s report makes clear that Trump Administration was willing to go to extreme lengths, including ripping young children and children with disabilities from the arms of their parents, to stop migrants fleeing violence from seeking protection in the United States,” Nadler said in a joint statement with Immigration Subcommittee Chair Zoe Lofgren (D-CA). “Now, more than year since the end of this cruel policy, the Trump Administration has failed to reunite hundreds of children with their families. The incompetence is unforgiveable. As we move forward, we need a whole of government approach to reunite these families and put an end to this dark chapter in our nation’s history.”
Williams Calls for Answers, Accountability on NYCHA Lead Crisis
Yesterday, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams (D) made an open demand for solutions to address the lead contamination levels in NYCHA apartments.
Recently, new data revealed that lead contamination exists in at least 9,000 NYCHA apartment units where children live. Some reports suggest that if left unchecked, the number could rise as high as 20,000. In a letter to NYCHA Chair Gregory Russ, Williams demanded more information on the issue (such as the number of contaminated units that have undergone remediation since 2018), and asked how he intends to screen New Yorkers for lead exposure.
“This situation is a dire emergency for children across the city,” he wrote. “The presence of lead in these apartments presents a clear and present danger to the children and families living in them. I propose, with the thousands of empty hotel rooms and suites across the city, that these rooms immediately be used to house these families until the units are safe for the return of children. Residents of those units should not be required to pay rent on those apartments until they are once again habitable.”
Read the full letter here.
