Equitable Code Enforcement Webcast

Webcast recording

On March 19, 2021, CHPC welcomed experts to explore code enforcement practices and how they can contribute to a more equitable and just city.

In conversation:

Jimena Veloz & Nisha Baliga,Hester Street Collaborative
Grace Ashford, Investigative Journalist, New York Times
Dr. Ellen Pader, Professor Emerita of Regional Planning, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Jessica Katz & Kate Leitch, Citizens Housing & Planning Council

Related materials

Read CHPC’s policy primer, Equitable Enforcement: Balancing Risk Resources and Policy Goals.
Read Grace Ashford’s outstanding reporting on failure-to-comply violations, “The Law Was Aimed at Deadly Machinery. It Hit Her Washer.”
Read Hester St’s report, The Power & Proximity of Code Enforcement, for their thoughtful analysis of the enforcement practices in ten upstate cities.
Read Dr. Ellen Pader’s seminal piece, “Housing Occupancy Standards: Inscribing Ethnicity and Family Relations on the Land.”

Maintenance & Operation

Equitable Code Enforcement: Policy Brief

Enforcement of New York City's building codes and the codes themselves may seem impartial, but they contribute to the inequities experienced by many New Yorkers.

Find out more

Equitable Code Enforcement: Policy Brief

In this brief, CHPC explores how enforcement of the city’s building codes can keep us safe, but also be a major contributor to inequity, and sets out recommendations for equitable code enforcement.

The current code enforcement system advantages powerful voices within a community, which can result in the deployment of government resources to neighbors with the loudest voices, weaponization of the enforcement system, or neglect of neighborhoods with the greatest need.

In partnership with Hester Street, CHPC is studying New York’s code enforcement practices and their impacts to formulate recommendations to foster a more equitable and just city.