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Dear New Yorkers,
Today, my office published a landmark audit about the equitability of City services and facilities.
After carefully analyzing 5 years of data, we found that New York City is largely failing to comply with mandated “Fair Share" requirements. We also found that the City has not been transparent with the public about these shortcomings. Complete with interactive maps, you can view the full report and analysis here.
In other words, we found that many City services and facilities – from parks and waste treatment plants, to shelters and social services – are unfairly distributed. This exacerbates racial and economic disparities in our neighborhoods.
Our findings may come as no surprise to the New Yorkers whose lived experiences have been shaped by the unfair distribution of City services. Some neighborhoods have 100x shelter beds than others. Neighborhoods with significant Asian populations have less access to parks. Meanwhile, noisy and pollutant waste treatment plants are concentrated in neighborhoods with low incomes. The disparities fall along the lines of race and income.
What is “Fair Share”?
Adopted in the 1989 City Charter Revision, “Fair Share” is a provision that requires the City to make a concerted effort to ensure that neighborhoods get their fair share of amenities like parks and libraries, and do their fair share to confront citywide problems like homelessness.
According to our audit and analysis, the following four facility types are distributed unfairly throughout New York City neighborhoods:
- Parks
- Waste transfer sites
- Homeless shelters (includes sanctuary sites and HERRCs)
- Social services (includes mental health centers and substance use disorder treatment programs)
What does unfair distribution of City Services look like?
Unfairly distributed social services are one example of how the City is failing to live up to its ‘Fair Share’ obligations. View our full report and geospatial analysis of a wide range of City facilities.
As you can see in the map below, social services – including mental health centers and substance use treatment programs – are much more likely to be in neighborhoods with a higher percentage of people living below the poverty line. Meanwhile, Manhattan CDs 10 and 11 (Harlem and East Harlem) are doing far more of their fair share than the rest of the borough.
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