Summary

Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled · Bronx Independent Living Services · Center for Independence of the Disabled, NY · Disabled In Action of Metropolitan NY · Downstate New York ADAPT · Elevator Action Group (Rise and Resist) · Greater New York Council of the Blind · Independence Care System · Harlem Independent Living Center · Long Island Center for Independent Living, Inc. · New York Lawyers for the Public Interest · One Heart One Vision · Self Initiated Living Options, Inc. (SILO) · Staten Island Center for Independent Living · United Spinal Association · Westchester Disabled on the Move, Inc. · Westchester Independent Living Center

June 24, 2024

Hon. Andrea Stewart-Cousins
Majority Leader, New York State Senate
Capitol Building, Room 330
Albany, NY 12242

Hon. Carl Heastie
Speaker, New York State Assembly
Capitol Building
Albany, NY 12242

Via email

Dear Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins and Speaker Heastie:

We write to urge you to work with the governor to immediately find reliable, progressive funding sources for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s capital program so that accessibility projects and other vital programs can move forward without delay.

Any pause, even for a few months, is inexcusable. Any delay runs counter to the MTA’s legal commitment to make the subways accessible. It would mean New Yorkers and others with mobility disabilities will encounter yet another delay in our 45-year-long campaign for access to our city’s vast subway network.

Almost exactly two years ago, Governor Hochul announced the settlement of two civil right lawsuits that disability advocates had brought against the MTA, committing the authority to a three-decade plan to make at least 95% of the city’s subway stations accessible. “No New Yorker should have to worry about whether or not they can safely access public transportation,” she said. “My administration will continue to ensure that New York State is accessible to all.”

Unfortunately, the governor’s decision earlier this month to halt the implementation of congestion pricing, without at the same time guaranteeing other revenue sources for the MTA’s capital program, is already causing delays in accessibility and other projects.

Many of our groups support congestion pricing, in part because of the promised accessibility funding, and we are urging the governor to reconsider her decision to “delay” its implementation. But if congestion pricing isn’t moving forward this June 30th, then it is your obligation, not only Governor Hochul’s, to find and win approval of other funding sources that will underwrite the MTA’s accessibility responsibilities starting that very same day.

You have myriad choices for how to secure the necessary funds, but it is not our role to suggest, promote and win approval for them. That’s your job.

We have been waiting far too long for the simple ability to get around on New York City subways: Advocates first sued the MTA over the lack of accessibility in 1979. Eventually, the MTA agreed to make 100 out of the current 472 stations accessible by 2020. Yet, at the same time, the MTA rehabilitated stations throughout the system without making them accessible, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Disability groups and individuals then sued the MTA in 2017 and 2019; these were the lawsuits settled in 2022, although the MTA has yet to settle other lawsuits on subway elevator maintenance and other accessibility issues. Over the years, the MTA has wasted untold millions of dollars in legal fees to unsuccessfully defend its choice to discriminate against riders with disabilities, money that could have been better spent on accessibility.

Accessibility delayed is access denied. For most of the last four-and-a-half decades, the state and the MTA have shown a complete disregard, and even contempt, for riders with disabilities. We are the only taxpayers who have been repeatedly blocked from entering the subway, treated like second-class citizens, and relegated to inferior transit options. Prolonged battles now over funding will only delay what should have been in place decades ago. Safe, reliable transportation is a human right. Every second counts. With the governor, you must take action now.

Yours truly,

Joseph G. Rappaport
Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled

Manuel Perez
Bronx Independent Living Services

Sharon McLennon Wier, Ph.D., MSEd., CRC, LMHC
Center for Independence of the Disabled, New York

Jean Ryan
Disabled In Action of Metropolitan NY

Gina Barbara, Brandon Heinrich, Michael Ring, Anne-Elizabeth Straub, & Marilyn Tucci
Downstate New York ADAPT

Jennifer Van Dyck
Elevator Action Group (Rise and Resist)

Terance B Page
Greater New York Council of the Blind a Chapter of the American Council of the Blind of New York State

Yasmin Campbell
Harlem Independent Living Center

Loreen Loonie
Independence Care System
Susan R. McCormack
Long Island Center for Independent Living, Inc.

Christopher Schuyler
New York Lawyers for the Public Interest

Rasheta Bunting
One Heart One Vision

Joseph M. Delgado
Self Initiated Living Options, Inc. (SILO)

Carla Brodsky
Staten Island Center for Independent Living
Steve Lieberman
United Spinal Association

Maria Samuels
Westchester Disabled on the Move, Inc.

Margaret Nunziatoi
Westchester Independent Living Center

Respond to Joseph G. Rappaport, Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled, 25 Elm Place, 5th floor, Brooklyn, NY 11201 or jrappaport@bcid.org.