Laura
09-19-2007, 09:01 AM
from amNY
http://www.amny.com/news/local/am-curb0919,0,4318266.story?coll=amny_home_util
Advocates: Disabled shut out from sidewalks
By Kristen V. Brown | Special to amNewYork
September 19, 2007
Some 51,000 sidewalk corners in the city are still lacking curb cuts -- lifelines for people who use wheelchairs -- and many of those ramps are in dangerously poor repair, advocates for the disabled charge.
"There are times when you have to go way out of your just to get to a curb cut," said Edith Prentiss, vice president for legislative affairs at the advocacy group Disabled in Action. "Some curbs are so bad, I've fallen out of my wheelchair and been lying in the street."
The city agreed in 2002 to the "efficient and expeditious" installation of curb cuts at all uncut corners in the city. The agreement resulted from a lawsuit against the city by the Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association, which claimed the lack of cuts on the city's 158,615 curbs violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Edward Timbers, spokesman for the Department of Transportation, which handles curb cuts, has confirmed that the city is on track to complete the installations by 2010.
"Last year DOT installed over 1,500 ramps and more than 70 percent of street corners in the city are now handicap accessible, including 83 percent in Manhattan," Timbers says.
The process of making curb cuts, however, is not quick, nor simple, as it involves digging up everything under the sidewalk, like catch basins for rain.
But Prentiss argues that they are not being kept in good repair, posing a danger to people in wheelchairs.
"There are blocks where I just go in the street and hope I don't get hit by a car," adds Jean Ryan, the group's vice president for public affairs.
Specifically, the settlement pledged to allot a certain amount of funding each year to making pedestrian walkways handicapped accessible through 2010. For example, for the fiscal year of 2007, $20 million has been allotted, which Timbers says goes to planning, consulting and the actual construction.
But Ryan and Prentiss say much of what exists is unusable.
"There are some corners that are too steep or totally broken, but that are curb cuts. And there is nothing in the [city] budget to repair all those bad curb cuts," Prentiss said.
Timbers, however, explained that the upkeep of existing pedestrian ramps are not the responsibility of the city, but of property owners. If the concrete on the curb falls into disrepair, it's up to the property owners to fix it.
Prentiss said sometimes city sanitation workers obstruct curb cuts by placing garbage cans in them. Prentiss complained of a curb at the corner of East 57th Street and Madison Avenue that is obstructed by an emergency call box.
"I've had to physically move a garbage can to cross the street," she says.
Curb cuts are one of the three issues, along with subway and taxi accessibility, on the agenda for Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer's Disability Task Force of Transportation.
"DC has really good curb cuts, and so does post-Katrina New Orleans," Prentiss, said, adding,"I haven't seen improvements in my world."
http://www.amny.com/news/local/am-curb0919,0,4318266.story?coll=amny_home_util
Advocates: Disabled shut out from sidewalks
By Kristen V. Brown | Special to amNewYork
September 19, 2007
Some 51,000 sidewalk corners in the city are still lacking curb cuts -- lifelines for people who use wheelchairs -- and many of those ramps are in dangerously poor repair, advocates for the disabled charge.
"There are times when you have to go way out of your just to get to a curb cut," said Edith Prentiss, vice president for legislative affairs at the advocacy group Disabled in Action. "Some curbs are so bad, I've fallen out of my wheelchair and been lying in the street."
The city agreed in 2002 to the "efficient and expeditious" installation of curb cuts at all uncut corners in the city. The agreement resulted from a lawsuit against the city by the Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association, which claimed the lack of cuts on the city's 158,615 curbs violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Edward Timbers, spokesman for the Department of Transportation, which handles curb cuts, has confirmed that the city is on track to complete the installations by 2010.
"Last year DOT installed over 1,500 ramps and more than 70 percent of street corners in the city are now handicap accessible, including 83 percent in Manhattan," Timbers says.
The process of making curb cuts, however, is not quick, nor simple, as it involves digging up everything under the sidewalk, like catch basins for rain.
But Prentiss argues that they are not being kept in good repair, posing a danger to people in wheelchairs.
"There are blocks where I just go in the street and hope I don't get hit by a car," adds Jean Ryan, the group's vice president for public affairs.
Specifically, the settlement pledged to allot a certain amount of funding each year to making pedestrian walkways handicapped accessible through 2010. For example, for the fiscal year of 2007, $20 million has been allotted, which Timbers says goes to planning, consulting and the actual construction.
But Ryan and Prentiss say much of what exists is unusable.
"There are some corners that are too steep or totally broken, but that are curb cuts. And there is nothing in the [city] budget to repair all those bad curb cuts," Prentiss said.
Timbers, however, explained that the upkeep of existing pedestrian ramps are not the responsibility of the city, but of property owners. If the concrete on the curb falls into disrepair, it's up to the property owners to fix it.
Prentiss said sometimes city sanitation workers obstruct curb cuts by placing garbage cans in them. Prentiss complained of a curb at the corner of East 57th Street and Madison Avenue that is obstructed by an emergency call box.
"I've had to physically move a garbage can to cross the street," she says.
Curb cuts are one of the three issues, along with subway and taxi accessibility, on the agenda for Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer's Disability Task Force of Transportation.
"DC has really good curb cuts, and so does post-Katrina New Orleans," Prentiss, said, adding,"I haven't seen improvements in my world."