Executive Orders

Executive Order No. 17 - September 7, 1990

Establishment of the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities

WHEREAS, the rights and needs of people with disabilities are matters of vital concern the City of New York; and

WHEREAS, in order to better recognize the rights and meet the needs of people with disabilities, it is necessary to provide for greater cooperation, communication and coordination of functions and services on a City-wide basis;

NOW THEREFORE, by the power vested in me as the Mayor of the City of New York, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Office for People with Disabilities

The New York City Mayor's Office for the Handicapped is hereby renamed the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities. The Office shall report to and be directly accountable to the First Deputy Mayor. The Office shall be headed by a Director who shall be appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the Mayor.

Section 2. Scope of Duties and Authority of Director

The Director of the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities shall:

Acting in conjunction with other City agencies, be responsible for developing, coordinating, and formulating City policies relating to all people with disabilities, and for overseeing the implementation of such policies.
Act as a public advocate for the rights and needs of all people with disabilities in connection with all issues affecting this population.
Be responsible for coordinating and overseeing City compliance with all Federal, State and City laws concerning the human and civil rights of people with disabilities.
Coordinate and analyze existing City programs for people with disabilities, develop and promote additional programs, and act as the liaison between the City and public and private agencies, organizations and individuals in the development of programs affecting people with disabilities.
Provide a means of communication among people with disabilities, the Mayor, public and private agencies, and the community at large.
Propose City, State, and Federal legislation founded upon the needs of people with disabilities as ascertained by the Office.
With the cooperation of all City agencies, compile demographic and statistical data regarding the number of people with disabilities within the City in order to develop appropriate policies and programs.
Provide assistance to people with disabilities through the provision of information and referral services, and by facilitating the resolution of complaints concerning services and the administrative actions of City agencies and others.
Locate and utilize funding sources, both public and private, in order to assist in the implementation of the provision of this Order.

Section 3. Agency Plans

The Department of Personnel, the City Civil Service Commission, the Equal Employment Practice Commission, and the Commission on Human Rights shall consult with the Office for People with Disabilities concerning all policies affecting the employment of people with disabilities for review, comment, and recommendation of all reports and plans prepared by City agencies relating to the employment of people with disabilities, including those required under Chapter 35 and 36 of the City charter, but excepting reports filed with the Commission. The Office shall take forward copies of its comments and recommendations to all appropriate City agencies, as well as to the First Deputy Mayor, and shall take further appropriate actions to assist in implementing its recommendations.
Each City agency shall, not later than such date as the Mayor shall annually prescribe, develop and submit to the Office for People with Disabilities for review, comments, and recommendations, a plan, in such form as the Mayor shall prescribe, setting forth, where applicable to the activities of the agency, goals, timetables, implementation activities, as well as actual agency expenditures for the preceding fiscal year, budgetary allocations for the current fiscal year and proposed budgetary allocations for the coming fiscal year, for enhancing: (i) the provision of services to people with disabilities; (ii) the employment of people with disabilities; and (iii) the making of City facilities under the jurisdiction of the agency accessible to and usable by people with disabilities. The Office for People with Disabilities shall forward its comments and recommendations to the Mayor and all appropriate City agencies and shall take further appropriate action to assist in the implementation of such plans. The Office for People with Disabilities shall make such agency plans available for reasonable public inspection.

Section 4. Revoked Prior Order

Executive Order No. 81 of 1973 is hereby repealed.

Section 5. Effective Date

This Order shall take effect immediately.

David N. Dinkins
Mayor, City of New York