Our Impact in New York State
Since our founding at Columbia University at the height of the Civil Rights Era, NCLEJ has delivered justice for low-income New Yorkers. Over 40% of our casework focuses on empowering low-income communities within the state we call home, and we have deep, collaborative relationships with legal aid and nonprofit advocacy groups within New York City and across the State.
Here are highlights of our recent victories and ongoing advocacy in New York:
- NCLEJ filed a motion to reargue our appeal in Andersen v. Roberts before New York’s highest court, following a misguided May 2026 court opinion in favor of the state that was inconsistent with prior jurisprudence. The issue on appeal is whether disabled New Yorkers have the same right as everyone else to receive credit for work performed as a requirement of receiving public assistance. Though a 2015 ruling held that Public Assistance recipients who are required to participate in the Work Experience Program are protected by the Fair Labor Standards Act and must receive credit for their work, New York State continues to deny such credit to people with disabilities.
- As a member of the 13th Forward Coalition’s steering committee, NCLEJ is fighting for the passage of legislation that would abolish forced prison labor in New York State; raise wages for those inside, without unfair garnishments; protect worker health and safety; and create job training programs that provide real pathways to employment post-release. Our legislative agenda for 2025-2026 included advocating for the passage of a number of related bills, including: the Prison Wage Act, which would guarantee incarcerated workers a minimum wage of half the state minimum wage; a Commissary Bill to place a cap on commissary prices; a statutory version of the No Slavery in NY Act to end slavery as punishment for a crime; the Fairness & Opportunity for Incarcerated Workers Act, which would create a Labor Board to ensure that work opportunities on the inside lead to real opportunities post-release, provide health and safety protections, and take away the preferred vendor status of Corcraft; and the Gate Money Bill to raise the amount of money that individuals receive upon release from $40 to $2,500. In June 2026, the New York State Legislature passed the Commissary Bill after six years of advocacy by the Coalition.
- In May 2026, the Court in our class action lawsuit against the City of Buffalo denied the defendants’ motion for summary judgment, paving the way for our case to go to trial. Specifically, the lawsuit challenges racially discriminatory traffic enforcement practices by the Buffalo Police Department. For at least a decade, the City of Buffalo has systematically targeted Black and Latinx neighborhoods for unjustified, aggressive traffic enforcement to capture revenue for the city budget. Though the City has ceased some of the most extreme practices in response to our advocacy, the policy and practice of ticketing for profit in communities of color remain widespread, and the Buffalo police continue to operate with no meaningful oversight.
- NCLEJ continued to pursue our lawsuit against the City of Buffalo over its failure to implement the Proactive Rental Inspections (PRI) Law intended to protect residents in rental housing from lead paint and other health and safety hazards. From 2021 to 2023, 1,262 children in the City of Buffalo were confirmed to have high levels of lead in their blood. Most children who have elevated blood lead levels live in single and double-unit rentals—the same units that are supposed to be inspected under this law. Litigation remains ongoing.
- In April 2026, NCLEJ moved to hold the Suffolk County Department of Social Services (SCDSS) in contempt of a 2022 settlement over their failure to provide reasonable accommodations to persons with disabilities applying for public benefits, including SNAP, Medicaid, and emergency shelter services. The SCDSS has demonstrated systemic failure to comply with the terms of the 2022 settlement. Between January and October 2025, SCDSS failed to provide reasonable accommodations for disabled individuals requesting public benefits at a monthly noncompliance rate between 29-71%.
- In January 2026, we secured a court order against the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) to reopen wage claims for hundreds of 24-hour homecare workers who were forced to work 24-hour shifts for only 13 hours of pay, in what amounts to all out wage-theft. This decision was affirmed by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York in June 2026. This is part of a multi-year effort to secure justice for NYC homecare workers, all of whom are low-income immigrant women of color. In October 2024, we filed a lawsuit against GreatCare Inc., CenterLight Health System Inc., and multiple managed long-term care plans (MLTCs) under contract with the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) for unlawfully underpaying homecare workers.
- In January 2026, NCLEJ won a court order requiring the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance to hold administrative fair hearings for recipients of SNAP and TA benefits receiving adverse decisions within legally-mandated timeframes, issue notices and materials advising affected people of their rights, and limit collection of clawback payments beyond the legal fair hearing resolution period. The ruling found that the OTDA violated mandatory time periods to hold administrative fair hearings and unconstitutionally deprived public benefits recipients of due process. Litigation remains ongoing.
- NCLEJ continues to enforce the groundbreaking 2014 settlement in Baez v. NYCHA, which obligates the New York City Housing Authority to ensure timely and effective remediation of toxic mold and moisture in public housing. The Baez consent decree, also the first of its kind in the nation, sets out detailed protocols mandating abatement of these deplorable living conditions, under the oversight of a court-appointed Special Master, along with mold and data analyst experts, as a reasonable accommodation to public housing tenants’ respiratory disabilities under the ADA.
- In June 2025, NCLEJ reached a favorable settlement in ourTitle VII complaint against Apple Metro, the NYC-area Applebee’s franchisee, which exposed retaliation towards a worker who organized against discriminatory wages. Apple Metro paid the full minimum wage of $15 an hour, plus tips, to predominantly non-Black and white Applebee’s workers in Midtown, while paying only the subminimum wage of $10 an hour to predominantly Black and Brown employees working at the South Bronx Applebee’s location. Following our legal challenge to their racially-discriminatory pay structure, Apple-Metro subsequently fired our client from his position at Applebee’s in the South Bronx. In response, we amended our legal complaint to include a retaliatory firing charge. Under the settlement, Apple-Metro must notify former workers of their organizing rights under federal law. This victory is a powerful affirmation that retaliation against workers who speak out against workplace injustice will not stand.
Our Community Partners
NCLEJ proudly partners with community organizations on the ground to advance our mission. We understand that the fight for economic, racial, and disability justice is not dictated by strategies created at a distance, but in collaboration with the local communities most affected by the problems we seek to address. Collaborating with local and community-led organizations improves our ability to provide practical and direct legal assistance, as well as expands our geographic reach. In return, we boost the capacity of our partners to achieve their goals
In recent years, we’ve partnered with many local organizations, including:
A Little Piece of Light
American Civil Liberties Union
Asian American Legal Defense Fund
Black Love Resists in the Rust
Brownsville Green Justice
Chinese Staff and Workers’ Association
Citizen Action
Color of Change
Consumer Reports
Don Bosco Workers Inc.
Empire Justice Center
Environmental Advocates NY
Flushing Workers Center
Frack Outta Bk
Indigenous Kinship Collective
Laundry Workers Centers
Legal Services of Central New York
Make the Road NY
Manhattan Together
Mi Casa Resiste
Mobilization for Justice
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.
National Employment Lawyers Association – NY
National Mobilization Against Sweatshops
Neighborhood Legal Services
New Economy Project
New York Legal Assistance Group
Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation
NYCLU
Ocean Hill-Brownsville Coalition of Young Professionals
One Fair Wage
Public Utilities Law Project
South Bronx Churches Sponsoring Committee, Inc.
The Action Lab
The Legal Aid Society
Western New York Law Center
