Michelle
10-06-2006, 11:14 PM
TA Tells Disabled Fan to 'Go Home' Instead of Yankee Playoff Game (http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2006/10/76953.shtml)
10/6 | Due to a broken subway elevator at Grand Central, TA tells disabled fan to 'go Home' instead of Yankee playoff game.
Advocates say incident is demonstrative of large-scale problem
( NEW YORK CITY) OCTOBER 3 rd, 2006 – For EMIL DAMMLING, a 72-year-old wheelchair user from West Haven , Connecticut , attending New York City sporting events are the biggest thrills of his life. He was thrilled to have tickets to Tuesday night's playoff game at Yankee Stadium and took MetroNorth all the way from New Haven to Manhattan's Grand Central Terminal, but that thrill would soon turn to dismay when he discovered that the elevator from the street to the mezzanine was out of service, an all too frequent occurrence according to disability advocates.
When Dammling, whose knowledge of the subway system is extremely limited and knew only how to take the 4 train from Grand Central, asked an MTA representatives for alternative routing, one employee barked "Port Authority", while another tgave him the useless information that the elevator would be back in service on Wednesday, which it wasn't . Confused, he once again asked an MTA employee and was told there was no other way and "to go home". Upon contacting MTA officials earlier today, he was told that MetroNorth will offer no remuneration for his $18.50 Railroad ticket. The Yankees offered to pay for taxi service to and from Grand Central, but this option was not feasible due to a lack of accessible vehicles; they have subsequently agreed to refund his ticket to the game..
"This is the third time in two years where I've been unable to go to Yankee games because the elevators weren't working at Grand
Central, said Dammling "Earlier this spring I took the subway all the way down to Coney Island [for a Cyclones game] and again had to turn around because the elevator at the Coney Island station was broken."
"Incidents like this should remind us all of the importance of subway elevators," said DISABLED RIDERS COALITION CAMPAIGN COORDINATOR MICHAEL A. HARRIS .. "They are essential to the ability of persons with disabilities to actively participate in an all aspects of society and attending a baseball game is a perfect example of this." Harris also criticized the actions of the MTA employees. "There are numerous alternative routes within a ten block radius of Grand Central Terminal that Emil could have taken to the game, if only they had told them about it."
The TA's elevator hotline on Thursday indicated ten subway elevators as being out of service, including elevator #204, the elevator that prevented Dammling from getting to the game, but an audit conducted by the DISABLED RIDERS COALITION of subway stations with frequent outages found at least seven additional outages. In a visit to Grand Central Terminal as part of that audit was conducted earlier this evening, a sign was posted on the elevator indicating that it was expected back in service on Monday, but the studies by the Coalition and numerous press reports, including one that aired as recently as Wednesday night, have found such signs to be extremely unreliable.
Dammling certainly hopes that the elevator is back in service on Monday. If the Yankees make it to Game one of the American League Championship Series, it would be at Yankee Stadium next Tuesday night and he already has tickets.
10/6 | Due to a broken subway elevator at Grand Central, TA tells disabled fan to 'go Home' instead of Yankee playoff game.
Advocates say incident is demonstrative of large-scale problem
( NEW YORK CITY) OCTOBER 3 rd, 2006 – For EMIL DAMMLING, a 72-year-old wheelchair user from West Haven , Connecticut , attending New York City sporting events are the biggest thrills of his life. He was thrilled to have tickets to Tuesday night's playoff game at Yankee Stadium and took MetroNorth all the way from New Haven to Manhattan's Grand Central Terminal, but that thrill would soon turn to dismay when he discovered that the elevator from the street to the mezzanine was out of service, an all too frequent occurrence according to disability advocates.
When Dammling, whose knowledge of the subway system is extremely limited and knew only how to take the 4 train from Grand Central, asked an MTA representatives for alternative routing, one employee barked "Port Authority", while another tgave him the useless information that the elevator would be back in service on Wednesday, which it wasn't . Confused, he once again asked an MTA employee and was told there was no other way and "to go home". Upon contacting MTA officials earlier today, he was told that MetroNorth will offer no remuneration for his $18.50 Railroad ticket. The Yankees offered to pay for taxi service to and from Grand Central, but this option was not feasible due to a lack of accessible vehicles; they have subsequently agreed to refund his ticket to the game..
"This is the third time in two years where I've been unable to go to Yankee games because the elevators weren't working at Grand
Central, said Dammling "Earlier this spring I took the subway all the way down to Coney Island [for a Cyclones game] and again had to turn around because the elevator at the Coney Island station was broken."
"Incidents like this should remind us all of the importance of subway elevators," said DISABLED RIDERS COALITION CAMPAIGN COORDINATOR MICHAEL A. HARRIS .. "They are essential to the ability of persons with disabilities to actively participate in an all aspects of society and attending a baseball game is a perfect example of this." Harris also criticized the actions of the MTA employees. "There are numerous alternative routes within a ten block radius of Grand Central Terminal that Emil could have taken to the game, if only they had told them about it."
The TA's elevator hotline on Thursday indicated ten subway elevators as being out of service, including elevator #204, the elevator that prevented Dammling from getting to the game, but an audit conducted by the DISABLED RIDERS COALITION of subway stations with frequent outages found at least seven additional outages. In a visit to Grand Central Terminal as part of that audit was conducted earlier this evening, a sign was posted on the elevator indicating that it was expected back in service on Monday, but the studies by the Coalition and numerous press reports, including one that aired as recently as Wednesday night, have found such signs to be extremely unreliable.
Dammling certainly hopes that the elevator is back in service on Monday. If the Yankees make it to Game one of the American League Championship Series, it would be at Yankee Stadium next Tuesday night and he already has tickets.