New York’s municipal government has declared that race is a “social construct” in its first-ever citywide racial equity plan.

“Race has no biological basis; it is a social construct that has shaped the distribution of opportunity and resources,” the plan states in its health and wellbeing section. “Yet, structural racism, not race, continues to influence institutions and drive disparities in health outcomes across New York City.”

The statement appears in a 431-page New York City Racial Equity Plan, a sweeping document setting out more than 200 goals and 800 implementation strategies across 45 city agencies. According to the authors, everything from healthcare and housing to policing and education has been shaped by “400 years of city history”, while “generations of New Yorkers have pushed their City to close the gap between its stated values and its actions.”

Racial disparity is defined as a difference between “the experiences, circumstances, or outcomes of white New Yorkers and New Yorkers of color”. The plan says the city’s goal is for outcomes for every racial group to be “just as strong as they are for white New Yorkers”, citing the “marginalization or oppression, underinvestment, disinvestment, or under-resourcing” that other racial groups have faced.

The authors lay out how the city’s history explains those disparities, while also opening one section with a land acknowledgement: “New York City sits on the ancestral land of the Lenape, Rockaway, and Canarsie peoples.” It goes on to describe the displacement of indigenous people, as well as the city’s history of slavery and segregation, as part of the historical background to contemporary racial disparities.

The racial equity plan was required after New York voters approved three ballot measures in 2022 that amended the city charter and established a racial equity framework within city government. The plan is expected to guide city agencies as they develop policies and measure their progress, with updates to be reported every two years.

Since taking office, Mayor Zohran Mamdani has made racial equity a key focus of his administration. In January, racial justice organiser Afua Atta-Mensah was appointed to lead the Mayor’s Office of Equity and Racial Justice, which coordinates the work across city agencies. In April, the administration released a “True Cost of Living” measure alongside its preliminary racial equity plan, arguing that New York’s affordability crisis falls disproportionately on black and Latino households.

The final plan now turns that approach into a government-wide framework, with agencies expected to track racial disparities and report on their progress every two years. “Recognizing that we are far from overturning the intergenerational impact of over 400 years of colonialism, slavery, and exploitation,” the plan concludes, “we are committed to learning from others on this path toward racial equity and listening to New Yorkers – particularly those most impacted by structural racism – to hold our City accountable to this process.”