CACF's Invisible No More Campaign Rallies for Data Equity and Int. 1134 on City Hall steps

CACF’s Co-Executive Directors Vanessa Leung (left) and Anita Gundanna open the 2025 AAPI Mayoral Forum.

Int. 1134 would would establish and harmonize race and ethnicity data collection and reporting standards across all NYC agencies.

NEW YORK, New York (June 16, 2025) — More than 50 members of the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF)’s Invisible No More campaign rallied on the steps of City Hall on Monday morning in support of Int. 1134, historic new legislation that would establish and harmonize race and ethnicity data collection and reporting standards across all NYC agencies.

For over a decade, CACF’s Invisible No More campaign has led the push for stronger AANHPI data disaggregation in New York State. While New York City’s 2016 data disaggregation laws require agencies to produce disaggregated data by ancestry, multiracial identity, and sexual orientation, enforcement and implementation continues to lag behind. To address this, CACF’s policy team has worked closely with the office of Councilmember Shekar Krishnan to write the text of Int. 1134, which would require all NYC agencies collecting demographic information to use standardized forms with detailed race and ethnicity categories, ensuring consistent data collection across the city. This standardized collection of data will allow policymakers and elected officials to provide more targeted services for New York's diverse communities.

Councilmember Krishnan is the bill’s main sponsor in City Council, while the legislation is co-sponsored by 15 others: Councilmembers Lincoln Restler, Alexa Avilés, Justin Brannan, Tiffany Caban, Shahana Hanif, Crystal Hudson, Rita Joseph, Linda Lee, Farah Louis, Christopher Marte, Julie Menin, Mercedes Narcisse, Chi Ossé, Lynn Schulman, and Julie Won.

“New York City’s Asian American and Pacific Islander communities continue to be erased in the data collected by critical City agencies. This revision bill is a critical first step toward ensuring equitable resources and policies for all of our communities,” said CACF’s Co-Executive Directors Anita Gundanna and Vanessa Leung. “Currently, the lack of precise and granular data on our diverse communities continues to hamper the ability of policymakers to meet the growing needs of AAPI New Yorkers — especially when it comes to health care, education, and language access. CACF is proud to work with Councilmember Shekar Krishnan in shaping the language of this bill to ensure AAPI New Yorkers and other diverse communities are truly Invisible No More in New York City.”

This data revision bill is particularly important to groups that fall under the AAPI umbrella — such as Indo-Caribbeans, Middle Easterners and North Africans, Uyghur Americans, and those from Bengali, Nepali, and Punjabi communities — who are frequently unseen in New York City’s current data. 

“Asian Americans make up 18% of New York City’s population and continue to be its fastest growing racial group, yet our communities have historically been excluded from decisions about resources and services. We support this bill because the Asian American community is not a monolith. This bill is a crucial step toward ensuring that the Chinese American community and other diverse Asian American communities are seen, heard, and resourced. We are grateful for CACF’s leadership in championing disaggregated data and for Council Member Krishnan in advancing this effort. With this legislation, the Chinese American community will have more accurate representation, greater accountability, and the inclusion of our unique experiences in policymaking,” said Wayne Ho, President & CEO of the Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC). 

"Homecrest Community Services is eager to see the expansion of the data disaggregation law. As immigrant communities grow, and New York's neighborhoods change, the law needs to keep up. The Chinese American communities we serve are incredibly diverse and we are sure that other immigrant communities are equally multi-faceted and need to be captured in the City's data collection, " said Wai Yee Chan, President & CEO of Homecrest Community Services.

“Today, we proudly stand with CACF to address the historic erasure of our communities. This data revision bill is a vital step in recognizing our diverse identities and ensuring our voices are heard,” said Rana Abdelhamid, Executive Director of MALIKAH. “For too long, our communities have been invisible in NYC’s data collection. We demand that every agency collect disaggregated data that reflects our unique experiences. This is about civil rights—let’s ensure that every New Yorker, including those from North Africa and the Middle East, is receiving the representation, visibility and resources we deserve.”

“The NYC Data Disaggregation Revision Bill remains a vital step toward achieving equitable representation for all New Yorkers,” said Husein Yatabarry, Executive Director of the Muslim Community Network. “We continue to advocate for the inclusion of Indo-Caribbean, MENA, Uyghur, Bengali, Nepali, and Punjabi communities in city data collection—because what gets counted matters. Until our communities are fully recognized and resourced, we won’t stop pushing for a more inclusive and just New York City.”

Photos from Monday's rally can be found here. Please credit CACF in all usages.

For more information, please email Lakshmi Gandhi, CACF’s Senior Communications Coordinator, at lgandhi@cacf.org.