Chair Lee Questions MOIA on Standalone Agency Structure

Immigrant New Yorkers are not separate from the story of this city.

They are central to it.

They are workers, parents, students, business owners, neighbors, and caregivers who sustain the city every day.

I look forward to working with the council to ensure that our policies and investments and our institutions reflect that reality while continuing to strengthen the communities that are in fact the backbone of our city.

Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner.

And I just want to say thank you to you also because even when you were back in the day in the council, when I was at KCS, you were so instrumental in helping a lot of our immigrant communities and nonprofit organizations be that bridge to us accessing folks in government.

So I think it's very crucial.

It's a very crucial role that you played and still play even more so now in this role.

So thank you.

Okay, so I'll go through my questions quickly because I know we have others that need to ask questions.

So since Moya is a mayoral office technically and not a full-fledged city agency, what specific challenges and limitations does this structure present in terms of funding, operational capacity, and policy implementation?