NYC Mayor’s ‘Racial Equity Plan’ Would Direct City Resources To ‘Black And Brown New Yorkers’

Authored by Bryan Hyde via American Greatness,

Democratic New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has introduced a “racial equity plan” directing city resources to “black and brown New Yorkers” in an attempt to “confront institutional and systemic racism within our city.”

The mayor’s policy proposal targets housing, health, and economic opportunities, and seeks to address disparities by prioritizing neighborhoods and residents that have supposedly been historically marginalized by economic or structural factors.

Mamdani’s Preliminary Citywide Racial Equity Plan and True Cost of Living Measure prompted a warning from U.S. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who called the measure “fishy” and promised to take a closer look at its legality under current civil rights laws.

Sounds fishy/illegal. Will review! https://t.co/HDT4FJdGwK

— AAGHarmeetDhillon (@AAGDhillon) April 6, 2026

The Daily Caller reports that during a Monday press conference, Mamdani told reporters the following: “And while today’s True Cost of Living Measure confirms that the affordability crisis touches every corner of our city, we know that these effects are not applied evenly. So often it is black and brown New Yorkers who are hit the hardest.”

Mamdani added, “This Preliminary Racial Equity plan is the first step in developing a whole-of-government approach to tackling that reality.”

NYC Chief Equity Officer Afua Atta-Mensah has been tasked with guiding the plan which focuses on narrowing the wealth gap and claims that white New Yorkers have a median net worth roughly 15 times higher than Black New Yorkers.

The goals of the initiative include expanding access to capital for businesses in underserved areas, using a racial equity framework to guide investment, and increasing access to primary healthcare and reducing pollution in communities of color.

Mamdani, an avowed socialist, has also increased the funding for the city’s Office of Racial Equity to $10.2 million, prompting concerns about race-based discrimination.

In his Monday press conference, the mayor sought to tie what he called “New York’s affordability crisis and its history of racial inequity” as justification for the proposal, claiming, “The wealth of a median white household in the city is more than $200,000, while that of a black household is less than $20,000 . . . We are reckoning with the long history of racism here and starting to act upon a framework that puts equity right at the center of it.”

🚨 MAMDANI: “The wealth of a median white household in the city is more than $200,000, while that of a black household is less than $20,000 … We are reckoning with the long history of racism here and starting to act upon a framework that puts equity right at the center of it.” pic.twitter.com/W53H10fmFm

— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) April 7, 2026

The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division will review Mamdani’s plan to determine if it violates any civil rights laws.

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