Office of the Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams

The Public Advocate smiles and holds a Mixteca poster with a protester holding a sign reading: Ningun ser humano es ilegal. La Resistencia"

Council Member Avilés speaks with advocates behind her in City Hall Park

The Public Advocate speaks with advocates behind him, holding posters with messages like "Protect Immigrant Communities"

New Yorkers: You have rights, no matter your status, and deserve to know and exercise them.

The city can do more to ensure this information reaches people who need it, and @cmalexaaviles.bsky.social's NYC Know Your Rights Act will educate more communities about legal sanctuary protections.

The Public Advocate speaks from a podium with a "Mitchell-Lama Affordable Housing Report" poster

The State Comptroller speaks, next to a poster showing disrepair and damage in Manhattan's Clinton Towers

The Public Advocate and elected officials take a group photo in City Hall Park

Housing advocates smile together in City Hall Park

We thank @nyscomptroller.bsky.social for auditing the challenges with the Mitchell-Lama Housing Program.

While this program has proved absolutely vital, it's not without the same kind of problems that have plagued our housing stock for decades. This audit shows how much more there is to do.

A year ago, Mahmoud Khalil was abducted because he spoke out against the government’s actions—while being an immigrant. While being Palestinian.

And while being a New Yorker.

We will continue to stand up to protect students, like Leqaa Kordia, and all of our neighbors—and freedom of speech.

Bomb-Throwing Teenagers Pledged Support to ISIS: Feds The two men drove to New York from Pennsylvania to join a counter-protest against an anti-Islam group led by pardoned Jan. 6 attacker Jake Lang.

This was not an act of protest, it was an attempted act of terror that endangered the lives of everyone present for any reason.

These men must be held fully accountable, and we must speak out with one voice in condemning violence and hate.

NYPD officer dies in Kuwait while deployed with National Guard Maj. Sorrfly Davius died of a medical episode on Friday.

We send our deepest condolences to the family of Maj. Sorffly Davius and his NYPD colleagues.

We honor Maj. Davius' brave service and pray for all who have lost their lives in this conflict, which must come to an end to prevent further loss of life.

Thanks to Project 2025 and MAGA zealots, the rights of women are under attack.

This International Women's Day, we will continue to fight back for women's autonomy and safety, in the spirit of this day's radical history—a moment for economic, gender, and racial justice.

Keeping Relevant With Ronnie Eldridge - Jumaane Williams: NYC Councilman, District 45-Brooklyn - CUNY TV New York City Council member Jumaane D. Williams, representing the 45th Council District describes his early interest in political science and his attraction to public service. Discussing gun violence...

Former Council Member Eldridge welcomed the Public Advocate (then Council Member Williams) to her show to discuss NYC's pressing issues—reflecting her deep commitment to civic dialogue.

Watch their 2015 "Keeping Relevant" episode on housing justice and more:

Former activist and City Councilmember Ronnie Eldridge dies Eldridge was a public figure in New York City for decades.

Our deepest condolences to the family and friends of former Council Member Ronnie Eldridge, a fearless advocate for New Yorkers.

In this time when marginalized communities are under attack, and a lawless war rages, Ronnie's moral compass is deeply missed.

Kristi Noem gutted due process, lied under oath and endangered communities across the country.

It's good news she's gone. But, no matter who is at the helm of DHS under the Trump administration, NYC will continue to resist ICE’s unlawfulness and remain a sanctuary city for all.

The last speaker is the @advocate.nyc.gov who speakers about closing gaps, cutting contacts, and using every tool at our disposal to end all collusion and collaborating with ICE. #ICEOutNYC

The Public Advocate speaks on the steps of City Hall

New York City agencies work for New Yorkers—not for ICE or Trump.

Our laws are clear: city government is here to protect the safety, rights, and dignity of all who live here.

Data shows sanctuary cities are safer, and sanctuary laws exist for a reason: public safety and trust.

Empty NYCHA Apartments Pose Safety Risks, Opportunities for Squatters: Report - City Limits Squatters took up illegal residence in hundreds of empty NYCHA apartments in recent years, as the units waited for often extensive repair work before they could be rented out again.

As if vacant NYCHA units in a housing crisis weren't worrying enough, this public safety risk is alarming.

These systemic issues keep NYCHA as the city's worst landlord—but NYCHA agreeing to pursue DOI’s recommendations is an important step for tenants.

New York City is a melting pot of culture—or a baking pan.

We loved joining JCRC-NY and Jewish New Yorkers for a celebratory Purim hamantaschen crawl, meeting local businesses and sampling their delicious desserts. May we all find joy, community, and sweetness wherever we can.

Gender-affirming care saves lives, and is proven to improve mental health outcomes for TGNC youth.

Everybody deserves healthcare—and taking healthcare away from children is immoral.

We need institutions in our city to stop depriving families of the care that can provide relief.

The Public Advocate poses with elected officials and leaders at the rally

Kim Watson-Benjamin poses with Senator Bottcher

Protesters gather, holding pride flags and posters with messaging like, "Gender affirming care saves lives"

Advocates gather to speak

We must stand together when hospitals capitulate to a bully, taking healthcare away from the young people who need it.

As NYU Langone and Mt. Sinai end gender-affirming healthcare for TGNC young people, and Kansas invalidates IDs, solidarity is critical—and can save lives.

We thank PSPNY, and all who fight for safer, more just school communities—after this deplorable, anti-Black "hot mic" moment at the CEC3 meeting.

We are grateful @nycschools.bsky.social has committed to expanding its Black Studies curriculum, which we hope catalyzes needed systemic change.

CECs should empower students, parents, and caregivers as spaces for civic discourse.

The anti-Black comments made at a CEC3 meeting—while a student advocated for her school—are unacceptable.

There must be meaningful redress for the harm to Black students and school communities.

In the words of Reverend Jesse Jackson: "I am not a perfect servant. I am a public servant doing my best against the odds. As I develop and serve, be patient. God is not finished with me yet."

He inspired us all to do what we can, with what we have, where we are—to keep moving.

"...they had editorial discretion and used it to silence voluntary expression, but not involuntary harm."

The more we learn about what wasn't done, the worse the story gets.

Now is a great opportunity to discuss how disability accommodations benefit everyone and why empathy is not a 1-way street.

I Have Tourette Syndrome and I Have the N-Word Thrown at Me. I Have Thoughts on BAFTA. As New York City Public Advocate, I’m in a very visible space with a very visible disability. Here's what I've learned.

"I understand anger here — on behalf of the Black artists being hit with that word, on behalf of the disability community feeling villainized and misunderstood. And I think that any anger needs to be directed at BAFTA and the BBC."

NEW in @thr.com:

PSA from the Public Advocate, his honorable NYC Dog Mayor Simon, and New York City's good boys and girls 🐶: New Yorkers, clean up your 💩.

Rule #1 is to clean up #2, for the good of our neighbors. It’s not just a courtesy—it’s the law, and is critical for the health of our city.

Update: We’re relieved that Ellie Aghayeva has been released and returned home.

As more information has become available, the depth of DHS’s deceit and inhumane tactics is even more clear

We need answers, accountability, and assurances that this kind of abuse will not happen again in our city.

NYC Public Advocate’s Statement On The Detention Of A Columbia Student By ICE Press Release, February 26th, 2026

"We are still working to gather information about the ICE abduction at Columbia this morning. What we know is that federal agents have detained another immigrant New Yorker, another Columbia student, and that this rogue agency has no regards for our policies, our laws, or our rights."

Read more:

Columbia student detained by ICE agents who used ‘misrepresentations’ to gain access to dorm building, university says | amNewYork ICE agents detained a Columbia University student in a dorm building early Thursday morning, allegedly making “misrepresentations to gain entry to the

The Public Advocate is en route to Columbia after DHS agents reportedly lied in order to detain a student.

Hands off our students and #HandsOffNYC.

Nurul Amin Shah Alam, Blind Rohingya refugee dumped by CBP, dies in cold "They just left him."

Nurul Amin Shah Alam's death highlights everything wrong with policing, disability, and immigration enforcement's cruelty.

We need New York for All to protect New Yorkers—including a refugee with a walking stick—and stop collusion with Border Patrol and ICE. #NY4all

From Shaolin to street style, Oliver “Power” Grant paved the way.

Grant helped make Wu-Tang Clan the legend they are, working behind the curtain to ensure more power to recording artists in an industry often stacked against them.

He kept the dream alive.

As an authoritarian president delivers his hateful State of the Union address tonight, who will not be present?

Dylan Lopez Contreras, a New York City student, because he is detained—we send love to his mother.

And another US citizen killed by ICE, Ruben Ray Martinez.

Shame.

CECs should empower students, parents, and caregivers as spaces for civic discourse.

The anti-Black comments made at a CEC3 meeting—while a student advocated for her school—are unacceptable.

There must be meaningful redress for the harm to Black students and school communities.

Despite the challenge posed by ongoing winter weather, tenants have a right to heat and hot water.

Watch for tenant advocacy tools and learn how to report heat and hot water issues to @nyc311.bsky.social.

NYCHA tenants: Call 718-707-7771 or report using the MyNYCHA app.

#WorstLandlordsNYC

"I'm the first US elected official with Tourette Syndrome and I have some thoughts about BAFTA" YouTube video by New York City Public Advocate

Hear the Public Advocate's full thoughts on this incident, his experiences with Tourette Syndrome and Coprolalia, what happens when our identities and needs intersect and clash, and the need for cultural change. [2/2]