New York City to Study Reparations for Descendants of Enslaved People

The city joins a growing number of cities and states, including New York, that are taking action to examine the effects of slavery and possible reparations.

Almost 200 years after slavery officially ended in New York, the City Council passed legislation on Thursday authorizing a commission to study the devastating effects of human bondage and to develop a plan to make reparations for the harms caused.

New York City joins a growing effort in cities, counties and states around the country to study the effects of the enslavement of Africans and Indigenous Americans and how to make amends for the long-term social and economic damage still influencing society.

That harm, proponents of the bill said, manifests in everything from unequal involvement in the criminal justice system to poor health outcomes, lower homeownership rates and a lack of quality education options.

The effort by New York City follows a similar move in Albany, where lawmakers agreed last year to create a state commission to study reparations. Possible remedies in New York City include monetary restitution, but also other compensation such as public memorials, official apologies and improving access to education and health care; lawmakers said the state and city commissions would work in concert.

“Whether it be public spaces, financing, housing, health care or the workplace, we know there are still barriers that were created during generations of discrimination that started during slavery,” said Farah N. Louis, a councilwoman from Brooklyn who sponsored the legislation.

Allison Hedges Maser, a spokeswoman for Mayor Eric Adams, said that he supported the legislation and called it a step toward “addressing systemic inequities” and reconciliation.