Make the Road NY

MAKE THE ROAD NEW YORK (MRNY) builds the power of immigrant and working-class communities to achieve dignity and justice through organizing, policy innovation, transformative education, and survival services. MRNY operates community centers in Bushwick, Brooklyn; Jackson Heights, Queens; Port Richmond, Staten Island; Brentwood, Long Island and White Plains, Westchester County. With a membership of over 24,000, MRNY tackles the critical issues facing our communities, including workplace justice, tenants’ rights, immigrant and civil rights, public education, health care access, policing, and TGNCIQ justice. (TGNCIQ = transgender, gender non-conforming, intersex and queer). 

MRNY is a multi-service, bilingual (Spanish and English) organization.  Our member-led organizing committees – which work on the issues named above – implement strategies to combat shared problems and develop leadership and the capacity for civic participation. We also provide an array of high-quality bilingual services, including health, adult education, and a robust legal program that offers direct representation across a spectrum of practice areas, including employment law, immigration law, housing and benefits, and TGNCIQ civil rights. The Legal Department at MRNY works to strengthen the organization’s organizing work by (1) helping to envision and implement leverage strategies (including strategic litigation) that help win our organizing campaigns; (2) providing technical legal support for policy work;  (3) providing legal and support services to high-need immigrant and low-income communities and help meet the immediate needs of MRNY’s members; and (4) take on impact litigation as a strategy for achieving broad change. The Department currently employs approximately 45 attorneys, advocates and case managers.