As 2025 draws to a close, we’re proud to reflect on a year of bold action, powerful victories, and steadfast commitment to our mission: dismantling housing discrimination and building more just, inclusive communities across New York. Even as we hear nearly daily about the ongoing evisceration of civil rights protections in our nation, we continued to stretch and persist, mindful of the important role we, and you, play in enforcing fair housing protections.
We marked our 20th anniversary, where we honored our cofounders Fred Freiberg and Diane Houk, along with former Board President Gene Capello. Two decades ago, we began as a small but determined team. Today, we are a leading voice in the fight for fair housing—not just in New York, but nationwide.
We ramped up our investigations and our enforcement actions throughout 2025, holding landlords, brokers, and housing providers accountable wherever we uncovered bias or illegal practices. Among this year’s victories, one is truly historic: a landmark ruling against Goldfarb Properties, one of the largest fair housing resolutions in recent memory. The case revealed systemic discrimination across dozens of buildings—and thanks to this victory, hundreds of tenants will finally gain access to the housing opportunities they deserve.
Education and outreach remain at the heart of our work. This year alone, we hosted over 35 trainings and community events, connecting with tenants, advocates, and housing professionals across the city. We shared the personal experiences of individuals experiencing and fighting housing discrimination in our My Fair Housing Story newsletter series. And for the first time, we launched a public awareness campaign with bus and subway ads on Staten Island, reaching thousands of New Yorkers in one of the city’s most under-resourced boroughs.
Yet, even as we celebrate our progress, we know the road ahead will be challenging.
This administration’s attacks on fair housing rights are unprecedented. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has frozen or canceled millions of dollars in funding previously awarded to fair housing groups—vital resources that may never return. It has targeted whistleblowers and engaged in deep cuts to staffing, making it nearly impossible for the few staff who remain at HUD to support fair housing groups. All of this actively undermines decades of progress and emboldens discriminatory practices.
With HUD’s retreat, private agencies like the FHJC have a larger role to fill. While the FHJC is fortunate to be less dependent on HUD funding than many of our peers, we serve the largest region in the nation—nearly 67% of New York State’s residents. They’re counting on us. And we’re counting on you.
Help us fight back. Make your donation today. Join us so we can conduct more investigations, more outreach and more enforcement.
Together, we can make 2026 another landmark year in the fight for equity and justice in housing.
