Image via NY Times video posted below.
Upper West Sider Sasha Blair-Goldensohn was walking through Central Park on his way to work as a software engineer at Google in 2009 when a rotten tree limb fell and hit him in the head. He survived thanks to quick-thinking by passersby, but he was partially paralyzed below the waist and now uses a wheelchair.
Blair-Goldensohn explains in an article and video for the New York Times how difficult it is for wheelchair-users to access the subway. In fact, New York’s got the least-accessible system of any major American city. Just 92 of the 425 stations are accessible. And the elevators constantly break down — an average of 25 a day go out of service, he writes. Often the MTA doesn’t have the correct info about elevator breakdowns on its site. “In the past month only two of the eight elevator failures I encountered were listed, making it likely that official statistics are an undercount,” he writes.
So Blair-Goldensohn either has to travel several stations out of his way, or hope people will lift him up stairs.
Federal regulators have been pushing New York to comply with the American With Disabilities Act, and the necessary costs keep rising as the state declines to make the full investments.
While the governor rolls out flashy projects like wifi and LED lights in stations, wheelchair-users have seen few improvements. The words wheelchair and elevator do not show up in his announcement about station upgrades. Blair-Goldensohn thinks people should demand more from the MTA on this, not just for wheelchair-users, but for people pushing strollers or those who otherwise need elevators and accessible walkways.
It’s pretty clear: state lawmakers will only care about this if they think they’ll lose their jobs because you’re pissed enough. Here’s how to find and contact your state senator, your state rep and the governor. (In general people say calling is best if you have an issue.)
Nadler will get involved only if there are tv cameras, like he’d be at JFK to get involved with foreign citizens’ travel issues. Don’t expect him to actually get involved with his local constituency’s issues. Politicians are shameless.
what about Cuomo,totally shameless…you would thing he single handidly built the 4 stop 2nd ave subway…then the fare hike he ran back down into his hole…he wants to do everything and this is the phony with the delusional run for prez
Have never seen bronze plaques at subway station entrances/exits with governor and other officials names as with Cuomo and the SAS.
I agree that this is a major problem on the UWS and throughout the city. When I had a temporary injury, I was unable to go to work using the subway even though I am in walking distance to 5 different stations because there are no elevators at any of them. There were also no elevators on the other end of my commute. I tried to apply for access-a-ride, but by the time that would have been sorted out my injury healed, so I had to pay a car service to go to work. This is untenable situation for so many people.
I agree with everything you said. I have had an injury the past year that has required a few surgeries, leaving me in a leg cast for weeks at a time. I was not able to use the subway near me during those times. I also considered applying for access-a-ride, but the process was long and complicated, particularly for a temporary injury. It gave me an even greater perspective on how far we need to improve accessibility.
People with physical disabilities make up a larger part of the population these days and the infrastructure doesnt grow with us. Looking for a seat to rest while walking down the block is almost impossible to find. And this great video of the subway wheel chair guy… It needs a great awakening. A wheeler’s ride on Washington??!!!
Good luck, you guys!
And thanks for this opening WestSideRag!.
Access to subways via elevator on CPW dont exist. I often wonder why not. Shame on our local politicians for not advocating for folks with disabilities and/or senior citizens. It’s the law but that doesn’t seem to matter much these days.
I really don’t see the subway as an appropriate way for him to get around. In fact, I see almost no people in wheelchairs on the subway, ever. It just isn’t set up for the disabled. Entryways are too narrow, there isn’t enough room on the cars themselves. And just too many people. Why doesn’t Google, a rich company, offer him private transportation?
Yes, because that’s the take-away from this piece: his specific company is rich enough for this one employee, so everything’s good with the accessibility situation on the MTA.
Here you go smart guy…
https://www.nyc.gov/html/mopd/html/resources/trans_aar.shtml
So he doesn’t have to rely on Google after all.
Since you’re so smart, I invite you to submit a workable proposal to retrofit a 100-year old subway system to ADA specs. Shouldn’t cost but a few billion dollars, would be my guess. Easily doable. Shouldn’t inconvenience commuters too much either. And maybe we can order special new super wide trains too. Of course that would require demolishing entire stations and laying down new track.
Easy peasy.
They’re required to make (and keep!) the subway accessible under certain circumstances as specified by the ADA. The ADA requirements were actually established with the idea in mind that it wouldn’t be possible to transform an ancient complex system overnight. It’s not optional. Sometimes the MTA acts like it is.
People in wheelchair aren’t on the subways, not because they don’t want to use public transit, but because the system is so inaccessible. I mean, do you really not see the logical problem in claiming that we don’t need accessibility because you never see the disabled using the system?
Most of us are going to experience a period of disability at some point in our lives. Most of us don’t have “rich companies” able to pay for private transportation back and forth.
Why should Google provide transportation just because he works there? You’re just another UWS’er deciding that private citizens with money should pay for public needs.
“private citizens with money should pay for public needs.” Isn’t that how a well run and democratic society should function? Am I just crazy?
Your definition of a democratic society is flawed. A democratic society functions through a system in which elected legislators allocate finite resources. It’s not done by just expecting a private company to pay because it has ‘enough’ money. It’s no one right to tell any person or company that they have enough money.
We are the Center for Independence of the Disabled, NY. We’re so glad to see this issue being highlighted by the Westsiderag. The settlement agreement that was negotiated after passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act has resulted in some “key stations” having elevators and some other stations adding elevators with construction. This is in no way enough! That agreement expires in 2020 and we need to put pressure on the MTA to do more. Share your subway story with us for a campaign to improve subway access at info@cidny.org, join us on facebook and call us at 212-674-2300 to join our Action Network.
This is absolutely disgraceful and discriminatory!
It’s a necessity, not a luxury for EVERYONE to have easy
access to public transportation.
Thank you for posting. The accessibility of public transit is a huge issue both for people with disabilities and for parents trying to get their young children transported around the city safely. I don’t understand why more people aren’t talking about this and trying to come up with solutions.
I think everyone is just worn down, I certainly am. Trains are delayed, they’re filthy and crowded and I witness violent outbursts on almost a daily basis. When the MTA raises the fares do we protest or stop riding the trains? No we don’t, because we have to get to work and so on and so on and so on. Not a solution, just an observation.
You witness violent outbursts on almost a daily basis?
this is very odd. i am on the trains on average 1.5 hours a day, on many days more than 2 or 2.5 hours, and i can’t recall the last “violent outburst” I saw.
i am mostly on the 1,2,3, 7, N, Q, W, E, and F.
it is indeed true that the trains are crowded and often delayed. i don’t believe “filthy” is an accurate description though maybe that depends on the line.
maybe this wasn’t intended, but your description of “almost daily” violent outbursts reminds me of Trump’s inaugural line about “American carnage.” I guess if something is repeated enough, people start thinking it’s true.
You’re obviously on the train with a different demographic. When people are intentionally shoved and threatened and sexual comments and ethnic slurs are thrown around I consider that violent behavior. You must be traveling with a lot of shiny happy people. Cato summed up the entire situation perfectly and much more eloquently than I did.
Bruce Bernstein wrote,
“Though as a man, I wouldn’t be the target of sexual comments”
Wait a minute, isn’t that sexist? (In suggesting that only men would make such comments about women.)
Perhaps even “homophobic”? (In not even considering the possibility of a homosexual man making such a comment about another man.)
i haven’t heard ethnic slurs nor sexual comments. Though as a man, I wouldn’t be the target of sexual comments and would probably not hear anything said quietly.
What “demographic” do you think you are coming into contact with on the train that I am not? I am often on the trains late at night and during the early hours of the morning so come into contact with many homeless.
i admit that I don’t get on jam-packed trains. I usually can get around it at 96th during morning rush hour by taking the local or waiting a train or two. it makes the whole experience much less stressful.
my experience on the subways is that the trains are too crowded and there are too many delays, but the transit workers do their best and most New Yorkers of all demographics handle the situation very well. i simply do not experience the boiling mass of violent and semi-violent chaos that the two of seem to experience.
Tensions are much higher on the subways than previously. I saw two “suits” almost come to blows in the middle of a car yesterday (I don’t know about what).
Then, when I was trying to get out of the (as always) packed car at Times Square, I must have brushed up against the slackard who had decided to block the door on one side (as I was being pushed by the person exiting on the other)– so he turned around and slammed me in the back once I was on the platform. What was that for, I asked, stunned. “You HIT me!” he exclaimed. I said I didn’t, he repeated angrily “You HIT me!”. Fortunately, the car door closed, or I can’t predict how that conversation would have continued.
The stress of simply, and constantly, being squeezed shoulder-to-shoulder (or shoulder-to-backpack) with other people makes each subway trip a volatile pressure cooker. I see eruptions almost on a daily basis, too, and am amazed it is not more often, and not worse than it has been. (I made it to work yesterday at once angry and relieved that my attacker had not been armed, or able to inflict injury on me.)
It’s awful down there. And it’s getting worse.
I want to add that if you find yourself stranded because the elevator doesn’t work and you push the call button, it rings and rings and no one ever answers. You can’t even report a broken elevator!
The MTA has no money to retrofit stations with elevators beyond the major ones (per comment #6), and has been getting recent ones paid for, ad hoc, by new building developers. But there is still no way to contact a party re a broken elevator, and the booth attendants have no protocol to do so.
Sounds like the city has failed him all around. Let us hope there are good samaritans around if he needs a lift. This is not just an ADA issue. Mothers with kids in strollers, elderly… Where are our tax dollars going?
How true. The F train Smith & Ninth Street stop was closed for 2 years and completely redone but they didn’t make it ADA complaint. I figure the MTA is paying someone off. When I had my knee replacement surgery, it cost me time and money to go anywhere because even when there were elevators, they often didn’t work.
Accessibility for all is a serious issue, for persons with disabilities, people with limits in ambulation, permanent or temporary,elderly, parents with baby carriages, travelers with luggage, those with heavy packages. Money should spent on escalators and elevators rather than high tech improvements, as appealing as these are. Pressing human needs should come first.These issues are off the radar.I was at a lecture where the MTA was boasting of the new tech changes, I asked about the needs of the disabled. Silence was the answer.
My brother is in a wheelchair and never used the subway when he lived in New York. He was born and raised here and only used buses. He moved out of NY in his late 30’s. But buses were a very accessible way to travel and remain so for people with disabilities. Yes, they are often slow and require much more advance planning. The other really great service is the wheelchair taxis. You can call to request one at no extra charge and when Eric visits we’ve found they come within minutes of placing the call. Currently he lives in a city in Indiana with very little access to any public transportation. So, although NYC should really do something about the subways, seeing to it that elevators work consistently would be a big help and maybe an easier fight to take to city hall. I’m all for organizing around this but starting off with a smaller, more doable issue makes sense to me.
Just fyi, it’s not city hall. The state controls the MTA.
WSR
Many of the points listed are true esp. retrofitting an old subway to ADA standards. What needs to be mentioned is that the city has also made great strides with wheelchair accessible cabs. I know it is not spot on target but it does need to be commended.
NY seems to be breaking the law. People in Wheel Chairs have enuf hardship with out having a transportation issue. Even a bus system for disabled would help right now. Or a cab system that takes them door to door.
Seems to be breaking the law? Just another example of lazy commenting. All is takes is a simple search to find out what the facts really are before asking for services that either already exist or aren’t required by law.
https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/hq9805.html
III. Transportation
Public bus systems
* New buses ordered on or after August 26, 1990, must be accessible to individuals with disabilities.
* Transit authorities must provide comparable paratransit or other special transportation services to individuals with disabilities who cannot use fixed route bus services, unless an undue burden would result.
* New bus stations must be accessible. Alterations to existing stations must be accessible. When alterations to primary function areas are made, an accessible path of travel to the altered area (and the bathrooms, telephones, and drinking fountains serving that area) must be provided to the extent that the added accessibility costs are not disproportionate to the overall cost of the alterations.
* Individuals may file complaints with the Department of Transportation or bring private lawsuits.
Public rail systems
* New rail vehicles ordered on or after August 26, 1990, must be accessible.
* Existing rail systems must have one accessible car per train by July 26, 1995.
* New rail stations must be accessible. with new bus stations, alterations to existing rail tions must be made in an accessible manner.
* Existing “key stations” in rapid rail, commuter rail, and light rail systems must be made accessible by July 26, 1993, unless an extension of up to 20 years is granted (30 years, in some cases, rapid and light rail).
* Existing intercity rail stations (Amtrak) must be made accessible by July 26, 2010.
* Individuals may file complaints with the Department of Transportation or bring private lawsuits.
MTA buses are equipped to handle wheelchairs. It’s the way to go.
Please do something to make the subway more accessible. For wheelchairs for canes for walkers and anyone that has any physical disability. It really is unfair and cruel in the city as advanced as New York but this is an issue
The subway system clearly needs to
add elevator access to the rest of the
stations. And taking a wheelchair-accessible
bus from Northern Manhattan to a job at
South Ferry Manhattan or in another borough
would be prohibitive in terms of the time.
BUT, all NYC buses have lifts that
can be used for wheelchairs, walkers,
people on crutches, or anyone who needs
the assistance. I took my mother in
a wheelchair to many of her medical
appointments on the buses or via the
subway when there were elevator stations
close enough. It was a great help,
as it would have been difficult or
impossible to maneuver her into and
out from a taxi.
I would like to thank all the
bus drivers who patiently operated
the wheelchair lifts, and guided
me in getting her onto and off-from
the lifts, and who made sure she
was safely buckled into the wheelchair
space and then quickly released at
the end of her ride. Our bus drives
have a difficult job, meeting their
schedules, dealing with erratic traffic,
maintaining a polite and patient
demeanor with passengers who can
sometimes be rude, aggressive or
uncooperative. All while managing
to avoid collisions with dangerous
drivers, double-parked or triple-parked
cars, jaywalking pedestrians, and
other unforeseeable obstacles.
When a bus has an accident
it gets in the newspapers. Sometimes
an accident cannot be avoided.
But when do our city bus drivers
get the thanks they deserve for doing
such a good job, under difficult
conditions, nearly all the time.
And the people who run and
repair the subway trains and stations,
including the elevators, are doing
the best they can with the resources
that are given them, often under
dangerous conditions.
We can complain about the
equipment and demand more and
better equipment. But I think
we owe a round of applause,
or at least the occasional
“Thank you” to the men and
women who supply their labor,
skill and emotional resources
to providing us with the
best transportation they can.
This is why new york has an access-a -ride option.Enroll and vans will pick you up in your wheelchair and take you anywhere in the five boroughs for the cost of a subway ride. If eligible you may use either black car service or public cabs for which you are reimbursed less the cost of a subway ride.
1.) How much was spent on wiring every station for WiFi?
Meanwhile, shockingly dangerous gaps between the platforms and the cars remain. To say nothing of the platform gates– found in many other cities around the world– that would prevent all the deaths and injuries that are caused by people falling, being thrown or jumping-onto the tracks.
2.) Perhaps WSR will publish the salaries of the top MTA executives.