Our evenly matched rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness require an equal paycheck.
Though few hiring managers would deliberately choose to offer women less money than their male counterparts, when using salary history to determine compensation, they unintentionally preserve the status quo. Too often, women will have a lower salary history, and, therefore get a lower offer.
The vast majority of our teachers, our principals and our PTAs are well informed and well meaning, but even those with the best intentions can benefit from cultural competency training.
Our schools should be sanctuaries of learning, not nightmares of cruel and racist behavior.
The vast majority of our men and women in uniform are doing the right thing.
The reflex of police officers, when making the decision whether to use force and on what scale, must not be a result of instinctive bias, but on objective and discernible factors. As the enforcers of law and order, they have to adhere to the letter of the law and minimize the taints of biases and life long social conditioning.
Our system of government works best when there are checks and balances led by independent entities that are empowered to conduct fair and rigorous oversight. These are the same principles enshrined in the founding document of our country - our Constitution.
District attorneys are often some of the finest public servants. However, the system in which they operate to investigate cases of police misconduct leaves a huge window for unintended bias.
Our justice system allows district attorneys to be charged with the great responsibility of prosecuting the very same police officers they work side-by-side with every day and whose union support they seek when running for reelection.
Any district attorney knows that an endorsement from law enforcement unions is vital to earning voters' trust. As a result, police unions play an outsized role in district attorney elections.
It's clear that the NYPD has prioritized creating a force as diverse as the vibrant city it protects.
The NYPD has taken steps to engage marginalized communities and attempts to bridge gaps between these neighborhoods and those sworn to protect and serve them.
A comfortable retirement should not only be a luxury for the wealthy, but a reality for every New Yorker.
Retirement shouldn't be making the choice between buying much-needed medication or putting food on the table; making the choice between heating an apartment in the cold winter months or paying rent; making the choice between paying a phone bill or seeing a doctor.
Every hard working New Yorker, regardless of their income, race, or gender deserves an equal shot at attaining retirement security.
Wage violations are tantamount to theft.
We may not be able to make working at the airport stress-free, but we can at least give these workers the security of knowing they will be paid their due.
New York is celebrated as a leader in our nation's quest for progress because ours is a city built by the labor of a thousand different shades and accents.
Establishing the two Eids as official holidays will carry important practical and symbolic significance.
During my campaign for Public Advocate, and Mayor Bill de Blasio's campaign for mayor, we committed to making Eid school holidays a reality.
We cannot justly seek to expand access to HASA and enroll more New Yorkers in the program, if we do not act to improve the program to ensure that tenants receive the benefits and services they are entitled to.
Going forward, I am focused on rooting out discrimination against those living with HIV/AIDS.
I am proud of the advances we have made in New York where we have continued a legacy of substantive HIV/AIDS policy, but we must continue the fight to end the epidemic and ensure an AIDS-free generation.
As we express our gratitude to veterans for protecting our freedom, it is imperative that we provide them the necessary services and benefits they rightfully deserve.
It is no secret that New York City has an affordable housing shortage. For those who've returned from the battlefield, the problem is even more pronounced.
We have a moral responsibility to help veterans avoid homelessness and displacement.
For all the manufactured 'Republican versus Democrat' drama that dominates today's cable news and political rhetoric, the most striking feature of our present-day democracy is not partisan divide - it's a corrupt system that protects incumbents from the consequences that real democracy brings.
Around the nation, lawmakers have drawn up their districts with such perverse precision and aversion to competition, that legislators rarely face competitive challenges.
What's historically been referred to as 'gerrymandering' can more aptly be labeled an incumbent protection program.
Americans hate Congress but can't help ourselves from re-electing its members over and over again.
Gunfire tracking technology is improving every day and has been successful in many jurisdictions around the country.
No NYCHA resident should have to worry about the walk home at night through their neighborhood after they finish work. Yet for some NYCHA residents, worrying is a part of daily life.
To my dismay, inadequate signage, non-ADA compliant ramps, narrow doorways, and poorly-placed voting machines are preventing hundreds of thousands of people from exercising one of our most basic rights as Americans.
Increases in stabilized rents impact rent stabilized tenants directly, but they also affect the affordability of all New Yorkers' rents.
All New Yorkers have the right to decent housing, regardless of income and rent.
New York should be a place where everyone can afford to live.
In today's world, access to the Internet is inarguably critical to function in informal and formal spaces - and the costs to digital segregation are rising.
If accessing the Internet becomes more difficult for low-income communities, academic and employment competition may be undermined, and could damage the prospects of upward mobility for low-income New Yorkers and further exacerbate income inequality.
The Internet serves as a channel of endless information through which individuals now access the news, employment opportunities, education, entertainment, etc.
Putting cops on streets is the most effective way to combat crime.
Without a doubt, the most fiscally responsible way to increase the number of officers on our streets is to mobilize uniformed officers in administrative jobs and to use civilian employees to fill those jobs.
More cops on our streets and in our neighborhoods mean safer streets and neighborhoods.
Most of those whom we honor on Memorial Day died young. They never had the chance to raise a family, build a career, attend the weddings of their children, or be honored in old age.
I have never had doubts about the courage of the young men and women we sent overseas wearing the uniform.
New York's buildings must be cleaner and more energy-efficient.
In light of the documented benefits of urban trees, we must also ensure that we increase green spaces in underserved communities throughout the city that lack adequate parks and other green spaces.
Brown v. Board of Education was arguably the most important decision of the Supreme Court in the 20th century.
In reality, handing over public space to private developers does not guarantee that new library spaces will be comparable in size or otherwise remain fully-functional.
It is imperative that we set the national example and make it clear that companies seeking to do business in New York City cannot be allowed to treat their workers like second-class citizens.