One Brooklyn
BOROUGH PRESIDENT CALLS FOR ACCESS-A-RIDE REFORMS, FAST-TRACKING OF ADA UPGRADES TO SUBWAY STATIONS, COMFORT STATION AND ENTRANCE UPGRADES AT PARKS, GREATER ACCESSIBILITY REVIEW OF PUBLIC EVENTS
BROOKLYN, NY, December 19, 2018: Yesterday, Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams joined dozens of students with disabilities at Edward R. Murrow High School in Midwood, one of the city’s most accessible school buildings, to launch “Barrier-Free BK,” his initiative to improve accessibility for youth with physical limitations. According to the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD), there are 342,000 young people in New York City who are living with disabilities, and about 10 percent of the nearly one million New Yorkers of all ages who have self-identified as living with disabilities are estimated to use wheelchairs. Joined by local elected officials such as State Senator Simcha Felder, Council Member Kalman Yeger, and District Leader David Schwartz, Borough President Adams spoke with students about daily access barriers that hamper their independence and limit their ability to navigate the city.
“‘Barrier-Free BK’ is not groundbreaking; it is simply a call to action for greater accessibility, in a quicker fashion, to allow our young people and people of all ages to fully participate in society,” said Borough President Adams. “Our conversations with young people have generated important feedback on transit accessibility, open space accessibility, and the need to make our City-supported public events truly accessible. We hope to reimagine a City that works for all ability levels.”
“We are incredibly grateful to Borough President Adams for affording our students with the opportunity to voice their concerns and be agents of change in New York City,” said Allen Barge, principal of Edward R. Murrow High School.
As part of “Barrier-Free BK,” Borough President Adams made several recommendations to expand access to mass transit, including on-demand ride needs, as well as ensure parks and public venues better support for people with physical limitations. Most urgently, he called on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to immediately expand its e-hail pilot program to all Access-A-Ride users throughout New York City. The program that launched in November 2017 with a limited population of 200 Access-A-Ride users, which allows riders to use Access-A-Ride as they would hail a cab for on-demand trip bookings throughout New York City, has proven successful according to feedback from stakeholders in the pilot program. The MTA’s review of the pilot program found that the e-hail program costs $36 per rider on average compared to $69 on average for the same Access-A-Ride trip. Additionally, Borough President Adams encouraged the City Council to pass legislation introduced by Council Member Diana Ayala at his request that would permit Access-a-Ride vehicles to use bus lanes.
“Whether it’s using Access-A-Ride or getting into Brooklyn’s subway stations, parks, or landmark buildings, there’s just a lot to do to make the borough more accessible,” said Valerie Joseph, Access-A-Ride advocate for the Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled (BCID). “Borough President Adams’ report highlights many smart proposals to achieve true access and full civil rights for us all.”
“For far too long, hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers with disabilities who cannot use the subways and buses have suffered because of an unequal, inadequate paratransit system,” said Justin Wood, director of organizing and strategic research for New Yorkers for the Public Interest. “Borough President Adams’ recommendations for on-demand Access-A-Ride service, access to bus lanes, and rapid investment in accessible subway stations should be major priorities for our City, our State, and the MTA.”
Pertaining to mass transit, with only 25 percent of the MTA’s 470 subway stations accessible to some extent according to the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA)’s Fast Forward Plan, Borough President Adams called on the MTA to fast-track and expand its Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-related upgrades, as well as prioritize repairs to elevators within the system to minimize disruption to the lives of commuters who rely on elevator service.
“GEC supports Borough President Adams in his quest to ensure that individuals with mobility challenges are able to enjoy all that Brooklyn has to offer,” said Paul Cassone, executive director and CEO of the Guild for Exceptional Children (GEC). “It is simply unacceptable that so many public spaces, parks, museums, and even public transportation are unusable for the people in our care and other New Yorkers.”
“My daughter is a senior now and we want to go to the city more,” said Patricia Logan, a parent of two children living with physical disabilities. “With the trains not being accessible, it makes it very hard to do.”
Noting that there are no destination parks in Brooklyn with accessible parking spaces or drop-off zones along their perimeters that allow residents with disabilities to easily visit, Borough President Adams asked the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (NYC Parks) and New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) to coordinate on allowing accessible parking near major park entrances to support parents who want to take their children with disabilities into the City’s parks to enjoy nature. He also recommended that parks advocates partner with disability rights advocates to develop barrier-free day(s) for youth with disabilities in all parks, as well as for the City to investigate developing disability shuttle programs in parks with internal circulation and to reform its vehicle permitting processes to make it easier for those living with disabilities to access parks with their vehicles during special events. Borough President Adams noted that he will be partnering with disability advocates to conduct an accessibility audit of all comfort stations in the city and present the results to NYC Parks. Additionally, he advised the Mayor’s Office of Citywide Event Coordination and Management (CECM) to develop permitting processes in partnership with MOPD for large-scale and public events that include a full review and action plan for accessibility. Such a review would include determining accessibility into the facility, restrooms, steepness of inclines throughout the facility, and whether or not the ground is level at outdoor events.
“Today was a special day; I’m glad I got to speak and put my voice out there,” said Julian Prince, a student at Edward R. Murrow High School who is living with physical disabilities. “I’m grateful for this opportunity. I hope that today will change Brooklyn and that the city will take my consideration into account. I want to thank Borough President Adams for coming to my school and finally getting this project started.”
“Being a parent of children with limited abilities, it’s my priority to prepare them for their future,” said Kirk Prince, father of Julian Prince. “After meeting with Borough President Adams to discuss his new initiative ‘Barrier-Free BK,’ my heart smiles to know that he and his staff, along with community leaders and advocates, will do their part in preparing the future for my kids and others who faces challenges.”
The challenges and recommendations identified in “Barrier-Free BK,” which can also be found online at brooklyn-usa.org, were developed over several months this year in concert with Borough President Adams’ Disability Roundtable stakeholders; he will continue to host these roundtable discussions at locations around the borough to expand on this initiative’s efforts. “Barrier-Free BK” also builds off Borough President Adams’ 2015 “Access-Friendly NYC” report, which outlined key steps for the New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) to improve accessibility in New York City public buildings.
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