Action is needed on Assembly bill A.7842 which would mandate all taxicabs in New York City to be accessible by 2012. It is currently stalled in Assembly Member Brennan’s Committee on Cities. It is suspected they don’t want to move on the bill because of the cost. Please contact him and urge that they allow the bill to be heard.



NOTE: The Assembly Member’s website doesn't include an email address, so you’ll need to go to his online contact form and paste your letter into it.



Please do so here: http://www.assembly.state.ny.us/mem/?ad=044&sh=con







SAMPLE LETTER


Assembly Member James F. Brennan
Chair, Assembly Committee on Cities
842 Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12248

Dear Assembly Member Brennan:

I am writing to urge you to report A.7842, a bill to mandate that all taxicabs in New York City are accessible by 2012. It is currently awaiting action in your committee.

As a person with a disability, this issue is incredibly important to me. There are an estimated 60,000 wheelchair users in New York City, over 300,000 people who are blind or of low-vision, and approximately 10% of New Yorkers are deaf or hard-of-hearing. An untold number of other individuals have other forms of mobility impairments. For this large and diverse community, and for visitors to New York who have disabilities, taxis, a mode of transportation virtually synonymous with the New York City experience and one of the most important modes of transportation, is simply not accessible. In this most basic of ways, New York City lags behind other comparable cities, like London, England, where a 100% accessible taxi fleet has been maintained since 1989.

It is a matter of fairness and in the spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act that all residents and visitors to New York City are afforded equal access to all modes of transportation.

I urge you to report A.7842 so that people like me can have more complete access to this important mode of transportation.

Thank you.



- Your name, address -