Nearly 2 million New Yorkers struggle with the English language, according to Bloomberg, and should have access to the same level of service as native English-speakers.
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By James R. Lindamood
Michael Bloomberg, mayor of NYC, has ordered city departments to begin catering to the six most prevalent non-English languages in the city. Speakers of Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Korean, Italian and French Creole will be able to access city services in their native languages. All materials will be provided in these languages, including promotional materials, application forms, and instruction sheets.
While this has been the de-facto practice for many years, Bloomberg's edict has made it official public policy, and is the first city policy to require city services to provide foreign language services. Nearly 2 million New Yorkers struggle with the English language, according to Bloomberg, and should have access to the same level of service as native English-speakers. The city's greatest strength, according to the mayor, is its diversity.
Each city agency must assign a coordinator, responsible for developing the plan for each individual department. Each of the six languages will be accessible to residents, and other languages will be supported via translators hired by the city. While many immigrant advocacy organizations responded to Mayor Bloomberg's decree with enthusiasm, and are responding well to what they see as as the city finally taking steps to include all of its residents in the day to day operations of the city.
While the response from advocates has been generally positive, some believe that it is too little, too late. Councilman John Liu, who believes that the city is finally on its way to becoming, “...the true capital of the world,” categorized the city's performance up to this point as “lackluster”, citing the failure to adhere to a 2003 law that was passed, demanding language services in city service organizations.
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