Days of housing discrimination complaints sent to the "Twilight Zone" are over, new NYS Human Rights commissioner says
Have you ever complained to a government agency and wondered what it did with your complaint?
A CBS News New York investigation last year revealed that one New York state agency left complaints languishing in a filing cabinet called the "Twilight Zone."
Reporter Tim McNicholas recently followed up with the state to ask what improvements have been made.
"It's a new day for the Division of Human Rights"
"The Twilight Zone ended March 18 when I arrived here," Human Right Commissioner Denise Miranda said.
Miranda wasn't talking about the hit 1960s science fiction television series. She was actually referring to last year's government audit that found the Human Rights Division failed to properly investigate housing-related discrimination complaints, and instead left them languishing in a filing cabinet labeled with the show's name. State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli revealed that name in an exclusive interview with CBS News New York.
"With that kind of a label, it kind of reinforces what some people's worst opinion of what government bureaucracy is about," DiNapoli said.
The comptroller's report also offered a series of recommendations, from training improvements to identifying reasons for delays. Miranda said her team has implemented all of those recommendations.
"It is a new day for the Division of Human Rights," Miranda said.
The changes that were made
The audit, which was conducted before Miranda became commissioner, also found the agency often failed to complete investigations within 100 days, as required by law.
Miranda says after she took over, she made major personnel changes, added 50 new investigators, and will soon launch a call center that lets New Yorkers talk to a live agent.
The complaints are often from tenants accusing a landlord or broker of discriminating against them.
"Clearly, there were issues and we wanted to make sure New Yorkers were going to have the opportunity to file those complaints, and so we have completely revamped our intake process for complaint filing, that includes a brand new intake unit, that also includes updating our online form," Miranda said.
Miranda said she is already seeing improvements, including a 70% increase in closed cases, from 222 at this time last year to 379 so far this year.
Optimism now reigns
George Haddad of the Hudson Valley Justice Center represents people in housing-related discrimination complaints.
"I am optimistic," Haddad said. "It just seems like they're getting a response quicker, at least about initial documents that the intake unit needs. and it looks like the complaints are being organized in a way where it doesn't get lost in the Twilight Zone."
"We're going to continue to prioritize this. This is not a one-day fix. But I'm very proud of the improvement we've made over time," Miranda said.
New Yorkers say they hope the improvements continue, and the days of the Twilight Zone stay far away, lost in another dimension.
