Democratic-controlled New York City Council passes slavery reparations plan

(The Center Square) — The New York City Council has approved a controversial plan to study the impact of slavery on the city and consider reparations for the descendants of enslaved people.

The measure, approved by a majority of the Democratic-controlled Council, calls for the creation of a "truth, healing, and reconciliation" task force to study the city’s historical involvement in slavery and its present-day legacies and determine if any monetary reparations are necessary.

Overall, the legislation is expected to cost the city's taxpayers about $2.5 million, according to a fiscal analysis of the bills. A source of funding for the study has not been identified.

"The legacy of slavery and systemic racism has impacted all facets of our society today, and it’s important that our city recognizes and takes steps to redress these longstanding harms," City Council President Adrienne Adams, a Democrat, said in a statement.

The proposal must still be signed by Mayor Eric Adams, who has previously signaled his support for the legislation. In recent comments, Adams called the proposal "another crucial step towards addressing, systemic inequities, fostering reconciliation and creating a more just equitable future for all New Yorkers."

Backers of the plan argue that while New York abolished slavery in 1827, some businesses, including banks and other financial institutions, continued to benefit from the slave trade for many more years. They say the impact of those business practices is still impacting Black Americans nearly two centuries later.

"Black women, in particular, continue to be disadvantaged in both public and private sectors, facing systemic inequities that hinder their progress and well-being," Councilor Farah Louis, a Democrat and chief sponsor of one of the bills, said in a statement. "Addressing these compounded injustices is essential to forming a more just municipality and society.”

The plan also required the city to install a historic marker on Wall Street, near the location of the city's first slave market, and create a task force to consider the creation of a "freedom trail" recognizing the city's abolitionist movement and Underground Railroad sites.

"New York City is still one of the most segregated cities in the entire nation. No one is responsible for the systems that we have here - Black, white, brown or otherwise, but I believe everyone is responsible for correcting justice and inequity," New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said in remarks.

However, Republican Council Minority Leader Joseph Borelli, who voted against the proposal, said he would leave the city before he pays reparations.

"If they can introduce me to one New Yorker who owned a slave, I’d be happy to consider it," he told the New York Post ahead of the vote. "But until then, I am not paying a dime as a reparation for a harm I did not cause, nor condone, nor once participate in.”

Republican Councilwoman Vickie Paladino also voted against the measure, blasting the proposal as "another useless task force" and said she is "focused on the real issues that matter to New Yorkers."

"At a time when the city faces existential problems across multiple fronts, this is what we waste resources on," Paladino posted on social media. "New York City is at the forefront of ensuring equal rights for all, regardless of race, so it is absurd that tax-paying residents would have to contribute their hard-earned dollars to this pet project from the progressives."

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a bill in December that created a statewide commission to review reparations, and city councilors said the yet-to-be-created task force will work with the new state panel.

New York is the latest state to consider the issue of reparations as part of efforts to repair harms from institutional racism, which critics have called divisive.

In California, a state task force issued a lengthy report last year with wide-ranging recommendations for considering reparations, but legislation to implement the panel's proposal has stalled amid opposition to the plan from Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has offered amendments to the legislation. The panel estimated that Black Californians could be owed more than $800 billion under a reparations program.

Civil rights activists hailed the study as a historic victory, but critics argue that California was never a slave state and taxpayers shouldn't be held financially responsible for events that occurred hundreds of years ago.