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Demanding and Winning Translation Services at Hospitals and Pharmacies
For many years, New York's growing population of Limited English Proficient residents has consistently reported an inability to effectively communicate with their doctors and pharmacists. Language barriers compromise people's access to quality healthcare and can result in wrong diagnoses and treatments. Since 2002, Make the Road New York has worked to end this systematic discrimination by ensuring both hospitals and pharmacies provide adequate translation and interpretation for all patients who need them.
Working with both the Attorney General’s office and five
New York City hospitals, we negotiated agreements that will dramatically
improve healthcare for over 1.5 million Limited English Proficient
residents in New York City. We then built on that success by working in coalition at the state level – all
New York hospitals are now mandated to provide skilled translators,
appoint language access coordinators, and identify a patient's primary language
on all medical records.
In 2009, MRNY won landmark civil rights complaints against the seven largest pharmacy chains in New York State, which are now required to provide comprehensive translation and interpretation services at more than 3,000 pharmacies. Shortly thereafter, we also passed the Language Access in Pharmacies Act to require these same services at every chain pharmacy in New York City.
Millions of New Yorkers no longer face fear, confusion or discrimination
when they go to the hospital or pharmacy. Also, costly and often life-threatening medical
mistakes due to doctor/patient miscommunication will be substantially reduced.
Confronting a Health Crisis: Asthma
With groups from around the city, we spearheaded the passage of The
Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Act in 2004, the strongest lead poisoning
legislation in the country. Building on that victory, we are now confronting
the asthma epidemic in the Bushwick community. Bushwick has the highest
rate of child hospitalization for asthma in Brooklyn, and four times
the citywide average rate. Exposure to dust, mold, mildew, rodent infestation,
bedbugs, cockroaches, and pesticides is exacerbated by poor housing conditions
rampant in Bushwick.
Make the Road New York convened the first citywide collaborative
in New York City to address indoor asthma allergens and the
housing code. The initiative is working with the City Council to amend the city’s
housing code to more effectively mitigate indoor asthma triggers, and with the New York State Taskforce on Mold to confront similar issues at the state level. Promoting a Smoke-Free City
In 2010, MRNY joined with the Brooklyn Smoke-Free Partnership in order to promote safe outdoor and indoor spaces and healthy habits for our youth. To learn more about this important work, please visit www.NYCSmokeFree.org/Brooklyn.
Expanding Civil Rights | Promoting Health | Improving Housing
Winning Workplace Justice | Improving Public Education
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 Join MRNY for our 4th Annual Democracy Day!Make the Road New York is excited to announce that our 4th Annual Democracy Day is fast approaching! On October 12, 1,500 MRNY members, allies and elected officials will march across the Brooklyn Bridge to bring our agenda to City Hall. Led by MRNY’s youth members, this year’s Democracy Day marks the launch of our comprehensive Campaign for Fair and Just Policing, to ensure justice for New York City’s immigrants, workers, seniors, youth and LGBTQ community.
Last year, police officers in New York City stopped, questioned and frisked more than 500,000 people, but only 4-6 percent of those stop-and-frisks resulted in arrest. Black and Latino New Yorkers were nine times more likely than whites to be stopped.
The Campaign for Fair and Just Policing confronts what we know to be a xenophobic and dangerous model of policing that fails to sufficiently address crime in our neighborhoods while destroying relations between community residents and police officers. 
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