NYC Pedestrian Issues lawsuit

RantWoman peeked into one of her email dumping grounds today and saw this item noted here for various vocabulary and blog as filing cabinet reasons:

Group Sues for Upgrades to Sidewalks. By MATT FLEGENHEIMER.

Arguing that New York City's streets are often inaccessible for the blind or those in wheelchairs, a group of advocates filed suit against the city on Wednesday for what lawyers called violations of federal disability laws. In a complaint received by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, the group, Disability Rights Advocates, said the class-action suit aimed to 'end decades of civil rights violations' in what is 'arguably, for non-disabled residents, the most pedestrian-friendly large city in the United States.

Sidewalks and pedestrian routes, the group said, are often inaccessible for blind New Yorkers and people who use wheelchairs, walkers and other travel aids. Among the dangers, the group described curbs without ramps at pedestrian crossings, midblock barriers like raised concrete, and broken surfaces that can imperil wheelchair and cane users.

The focus of the suit is Lower Manhattan, below 14th Street, where problems are pronounced, according to the complaint. 'I should not have to fear for my life every time I attempt to go downtown,' Dustin Jones, a plaintiff and wheelchair user, said in a statement. Asked about the suit on Wednesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio cited recent initiatives to benefit disabled people, including the Vision Zero plan to improve traffic safety and a settlement to make half of New York's yellow cabs wheelchair-accessible by 2020. 'We'll certainly look at additional work we have to do,' the mayor said, adding that he had not seen the lawsuit. 'But we're very, very devoted to making this city not only accessible but safe for those who are disabled.

Polly Trottenberg, the commissioner of the city's Transportation Department, which is named as a defendant, said that more than 90 percent of street corners had pedestrian ramps. The city has also installed 430 'detectable warning strips' to help the visually impaired, she said. Victor Calise, the commissioner of the Mayor's Office for People With Disabilities, defended the Transportation Department, saying it 'understands the needs of people with disabilities and is working diligently to address these needs. Officials noted that the department recently added a 'policy analyst for accessibility' to its team overseeing the Vision Zero plans, which call for an elimination of traffic deaths by 2024. Julia Pinover-Kupiec, a lawyer for Disability Rights Advocates -- which is also behind the settlement for wheelchair-accessible taxis -- called the administration's reaction to the lawsuit 'very confusing. 'It's completely inconsistent with the way that they've acted toward the disability community on this issue,' she said.

Before filing the suit, Disability Rights Advocates said, the group offered to engage in a 'structured negotiation' with the city, possibly with a third-party mediator. But the city refused, Ms. Pinover-Kupiec said. City officials said Wednesday that they had hoped to work with the advocates, but did not want to enter a structured negotiation without being presented a list of specific locations that could be improved. The advocates did not give them one, officials said. Ms. Pinover-Kupiec said the group still hoped to work with the administration outside of court to improve pedestrian conditions. 'We want this problem fixed more than we want to drag them into court,' Ms. Pinover-Kupiec said. 'This is a problem people face every time they leave their building every day.