CDP

UJC

The Urban Justice Center serves New York City's most vulnerable residents through a combination of direct legal service, systemic advocacy, community education and political organizing. Our 10 Projects assist clients on numerous levels, from one-on-one legal advice in soup kitchens, to filing class action lawsuits to bring about systemic change, to pushing social justice legislation forward.
CDP

The Community Development Project (CDP) at the Urban Justice Center strengthens the impact of grassroots organizations in New York City’s low-income and other excluded communities. We partner with community organizations to win legal cases, publish community-driven research reports, assist with the formation of new organizations and cooperatives, and provide technical assistance in support of their work towards social justice.
DVP

Our mission at the Domestic Violence Project (DVP) is to help victims of domestic violence and their children live free of violence and abuse. We consider domestic violence in any type of relationship, regardless of gender or sexual identity, to be a human rights violation.

Be heard. Be free.
HRP

The Human Rights Project (“HRP”), a project of the Urban Justice Center, works at both the local and national levels to equip advocates with information and tools to promote domestic compliance with universally accepted human rights standards.
IRAP

IRAP assists Iraqi, Afghan, Syrian and other refugees in the Middle East and North Africa whose lives are in imminent danger by providing them with the support they need to safely resettle in third countries. We simultaneously work on hundreds of individual cases for those most in need, and use our case experience to effect systemic changes to how refugees are treated under both US immigration laws and international human rights regimes.
MHP

The Mental Health Project of the Urban Justice Center is a team of attorneys, social workers and advocates dedicated to enforcing the rights of low-income New Yorkers with mental illness. We represent individual clients, bring class action lawsuits, and engage in community education and outreach with the belief that low-income people with mental illness are entitled to live stable and full lives, free from discrimination.
PCYP

Founded in 1994, PCYP is an innovative legal services project focusing on the civil legal needs of the thousands of homeless and street-involved lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQQ) young people in New York City. PCYP works to interrupt the cycles of poverty and criminalization that prevent LGBTQQ young people from living fulfilling lives free from discrimination, abuse, and oppression. We have built unique expertise in the complex legal issues facing marginalized young people at the crossroads of youth and adult systems.
SNP

Casting a wider social safety net for all New Yorkers.
SVP

The Street Vendor Project is a membership-based project with more than 1,500 active vendor members who are working together to create a vendors’ movement for permanent change. We want more power and more respect. We are part of the Urban Justice Center, a non-profit organization that provides legal representation and advocates for marginalized New Yorkers.
SWP

Created in December 2001, the Sex Workers Project is the first program in New York City and in the country to focus on the provision of legal services, legal training, documentation, and policy advocacy for sex workers.
VAP

The Veteran Advocacy Project at the Urban Justice Center provides free legal services to low-income veterans, with a focus on those living with Post Traumatic Stress, Traumatic Brain Injury, and substance abuse problems.

Capacity Building
Serving new & growing non-profits
Consumer Justice
Protecting consumers and increasing financial empowerment
Tenants' Rights
Preserving and promoting safe, affordable housing
Workers' Rights
Combating workplace injustice
Research & Policy
Helping organizations build the power of their organizing & advocacy

Support CDP’s Work!Donate Now!

STRENGTHENING SOCIAL JUSTICE ORGANIZATIONS IN NEW YORK CITY

CDP strengthens the impact of grassroots organizations in New York City’s low-income and other excluded communities. We partner with community organizations to win legal cases, publish community-driven research reports, assist with the formation of new organizations and cooperatives, and provide technical and transactional assistance in support of their work towards social justice.

CDP's Participatory Budgeting Work Recognized in Council Speaker's State of the City Address

New York City Council Speaker Melissa

Read more

Support for Organizing

We believe social change is created by

Read more

Community Lawyering

CDP’s team of experienced

Read more

Participatory Research & Policy

CDP’s Research and Policy

Read more

Read more about CDP's Participatory Budgeting Work Recognized in Council Speaker's State of the City Address

New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito announced in her State of the City address last Wednesday that the Council will appropriate new funding in the FY 2016 budget to expand the Participatory Budgeting (PB) process to public housing. This would be the first PB process in the U.S. that allows residents of public housing to vote directly on how to appropriate public money in their housing developments.

Read more

CDP’s team of experienced attorneys provides a wide range of legal assistance to help advance community groups’ campaigns for social and economic justice. Our main types of legal work include:

Affordable Housing

Data in support of organizing

CDP partners with dozens of grassroots community groups in New York to support their work toward social and economic justice. Not only are we proud to partner with them but we also are proud of their work. To that end, we would like to share a list of some of our partner organizations with links to their important work: