NYC Comptroller’s Office Co-Sponsors, Marches in 2024 Disability Pride NYC Parade
New York, NY — As part of Disability Employment Awareness Month, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander proudly announced the Office of the Comptroller’s official co-sponsorship of the 2024 Disability Pride NYC Parade ahead of the annual event this past Sunday, October 20. The Disability Pride NYC Parade highlights the contributions, resilience, and ongoing challenges faced by New York City’s disability community, and serves as a platform to promote inclusivity and disability equity.
“As co-sponsors of this year’s Disability Pride Parade, my office is honored to join advocates and organizations to fight for better outcomes for the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers with disabilities,” said New York City Comptroller Brad Lander. “Working closely with the disability community has been a priority of my administration to help ensure that New York City is a place where every New Yorker has the opportunity to thrive.”
This announcement comes after the Comptroller’s Office has taken steps to further its commitment to employment opportunities for the disability community, including the hiring of Nick Astor as the Office’s first Community Liaison for People with Disabilities. Earlier this year the Office of the Comptroller released a comprehensive report that found, despite some initial improvements at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic due to remote work opportunities and a tight labor market, employment outcomes for New Yorkers with disabilities remain well below the national average.
“New York City prides itself on diversity, but in order to live up to that standard, the City must address the barriers New Yorkers with disabilities face to accessible resources and employment,” said Nicholas Astor, the Comptroller’s Office’s Community Liaison for People with Disabilities. “I am proud to work alongside organizations and people who have dedicated their lives to increasing visibility to these issues and creating this parade for the disability community to celebrate all the progress we’ve made so far.”
The 2024 Disability Pride NYC Parade featured a lineup of public officials, grand marshals, and disability-centered representation including Broadway performer with disabilities Jenna Bainbridge, writer Emily Ladau, and youth influencer Isabel Mavrides-Calderon. Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, New York State Senator Kristen Gonzalez, Assembly Members Harvey Epstein, Alec Bores and Jessica González-Rojas, New York City Council Members Shekar Krishnan and Linda Lee, and Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities Christina Curry also joined the festivities along with the New York City Department of Sanitation Boxing Team and NY Rolling Fury, a competitive wheelchair basketball team.
“New York City’s Disability Pride Parade is a powerful demonstration of the unity, resilience, and pride within our community. It’s a day to celebrate the contributions and achievements of people with disabilities, while also shining a light on the barriers we continue to face,” said Elisabeth Axel, President of Disability Pride NYC. “We’re proud to have partnered with the Office of the New York City Comptroller, which has worked alongside disability advocates and allies in the fight for true inclusion and equity in our city.”
You can view photos from the parade here and watch video from the parade livestream here.
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