Please join the MCNY Community in wishing Christina Curry MPA’17 all the best on her appointment as commissioner of the New York City Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD)!

On the 32nd Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), NYC Mayor Eric Adams appointed the first black, deaf, blind individual to the highest position to serve all New Yorkers with Disabilities.

Christina Curry

July 26, 2022 – New York City Mayor Eric Adams today marked the 32nd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by announcing the appointment of Christina Curry as commissioner of the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD). As commissioner, Curry will ensure that the overall quality of life for nearly one million New Yorkers who self-identify as people who are living with a disability have equitable access to city services and programs. Additionally, in honor of the ADA’s anniversary, City Hall and three other municipal buildings will be lit tonight in disability pride colors: blue, yellow, white, red, and green. The Americans with Disabilities Act — signed into law in 1990 — has fostered independence, empowerment, and inclusion for millions of Americans.

“Our city has made significant accomplishments to improve the lives of people with disabilities, but more must be done,” said Mayor Eric Adams. “Christina Curry has the skills and the lived experience to continue and expand on the progress made and ensure that the rights and needs of people living with disabilities are included in all that New York City has to offer. We must work every day to make our city more and more accessible.”

Read more from the NYC Office of the Mayor…

This is what PURPOSE looks like in action!

About Christina Curry

Christina Curry began her career in rehabilitation as an advocate for the minority Deaf, Hard of Hearing communities at the Lexington Center for the Deaf. There, she expanded into the mental health field as a mental health counselor working with Deaf, Hard of Hearing domestic violence victims and survivors through the Barrier Free Living Domestic Violence Non-Residential Program. On the weekends, Curry would also work with the minority disabled community at Community Counseling and Mediation, a Brooklyn outpatient mental health facility.

Nationally, Curry has served on subcommittees attached to the National Council of Independent Living and the National Council of on Disability.

Statewide, Curry has served on the New York State HIV Advisory Board, the New York State HIV Planning and Prevention Board, and the New York State Independent Living Council Committee. Curry was appointed by former New York Governor David Paterson onto the Executive Board of the New York State Commission for the Blind and the Interagency Council for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Deaf-Blind.

Locally, Curry has served on the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities/Disability Mentoring Day, the Office of Emergency Management’s Special Needs Advisory Committee, and the Disability Network of New York City. Most notably, in her home neighborhood of Harlem, Curry has participated on Community Board 10; on the Executive, Personnel, Health and Human Services, LGBTQ Task Force; and on Public Safety Committees. Curry joined the Harlem Independent Living Center (HILC), in 1999 as program director, before being promoted to executive director in 2001. While at HILC, Curry provided disability/deafness sensitivity trainings to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, various hospitals within the NYC Health + Hospitals Corporation, and at the Mt. Sinai Continuum. Curry also provided training at domestic violence agencies and shelters, local police precincts, community-based organizations, and schools. Additionally, Curry has worked with FEMA in Puerto Rico and with the New York City Emergency Management on emergency preparedness in disabled/deaf communities.

Curry has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and Education from Hunter College – City University of New York; a Master of Arts degree in Deafness Rehabilitation from New York University; and a Master of Public Administration in Emergency Management and Disaster Preparedness from Metropolitan College of New York.