Daily News Op Ed on NY Taxis & Accessibility

NY Daily News   

How New York City Let Me Down   

By Robert Slayton / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Thursday, March 22, 2012, 4:00 AM< I’m a New Yorker, in my heart if no longer in residence. Born in Manhattan at Mount Sinai, my parents took me home to their apartment near Crotona Park in the Bronx. Every summer, I watched my Yankees struggle, and, in those days, usually triumph.

And now my city has failed me.

In 2008, I contracted an extremely rare spinal cord disease, transverse myelitis, which left me a hemiplegic — paralyzed on one side of my body — and in a wheelchair.

Before you bemoan my fate, though, I’m doing fine, contrary to the stereotypes. My classes at the university are filled, several new books are in the works, I drive everywhere in a specially outfitted vehicle, and my marriage is beyond solid.

New York, however, is a problem. Rolling into the world of the disabled, I discovered that Gotham has a well-earned reputation as the worst city in North America for wheelchair users; one publication referred to “notoriously wheelchair-unfriendly New York City.”

Pools not accessible?

Some pools in our neighborhood are not wheelchair accessible.  (Riverbank State Park's pool at 145th St. and the JCC pool are accessible; the Paris pool and the 65th St. Y pool are not.)

Rules requiring public pools to be accessible were supposed to go into effect on March 15, 2012, but are on hold because some businesses objected.

Let the Department of Justice know your views: the DOJ is accepting public comments about the accessible pool regulations until April 3, 2012.

http://www.regulations.gov/#%21submitComment;D=DOJ-CRT-2012-0006-0001

2012 ADA Standards Now In Effect

Required Compliance with the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design Takes Effect

Starting March 15, the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design must be used for all new construction or alterations to facilities covered by title II and title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). 

These standards set the minimum requirements for new construction or structural changes made to the buildings of more than 80,000 state and local government agencies and more than seven million businesses. 

The revised regulations were announced by President Barack Obama on July 26, 2010, the 20^th anniversary of the ADA.

For more information about the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design, call the toll-free ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301(800-514-0383 TTY) or visit www.ada.gov. The U.S. Department of Justice has also developed an online guide to help small business owners understand how the revised regulations apply to them.

NYC Taxi Case - Update

Taxi Second Court Decision

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals - the mid-level federal court covering New York - has ruled that the Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) must indeed submit a plan for long-term accessibility to the District Court (lower court) judge, Judge Daniels.  

The Court of Appeals simultaneously sped up the whole appellate briefing and argument schedule  to give the court a complete set of facts and arguments on whether the TLC has duties under the Americans with Disabilities Act. 

www.taxisforall.org/

The whole appeal is scheduled to be argued during the week of April 16th (exact date and time to be announced).   

According to DRA Staff Attorney Julia Pinover: "This is a good outcome – there are benefits for everyone in getting the entire appeal heard, and hopefully decided, quickly and though there are no guarantees, we feel our case on appeal remains strong."