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SAWHORSE
Group warns Mechanicville on access for disabled
Posted on September 11, 2014 | By Dennis Yusko
Mary Sullivan steered her motorized device up Hill Street in Mechanicville, carefully hugging the side of the road to avoid oncoming vehicles that zipped dangerously close.
Sullivan, like her late father, has muscular dystrophy. She began using a four-wheel scooter three years ago, when the degenerative disease made it too difficult for her to walk. She doesn’t let the disability dictate her life. She rides around the one-square-mile city, completing chores and meeting friends.
But Sullivan, 32, learned it wasn’t easy getting around downtown Mechanicville. The pavement on many of the city’s sidewalks is broken, uneven or filled with weeds, making them impassable for wheelchairs and other devices. Some sidewalks were built without curb cuts. That forces Sullivan and others with disabilities to travel on streets because they can’t get onto the sidewalks.
“It’s very dangerous,” said Sullivan, who grew up in the city. “My biggest fear is getting stuck by myself. Then I have to wait for someone to help me.”
Sullivan is leading a fight to bring the city and its commercial district into compliance with access requirements of the U.S. Americans with Disabilities Act. She said she informed city officials about the problems two years ago, but they did nothing. She then filed a compliant with Disability Rights New York, an advocacy group based in Albany, to get Mechanicville to repair its downtown sidewalks and require city businesses to fix theirs.
Last month, members of the disability rights group toured Main Street, Central Avenue, the crosswalk to Price Chopper Plaza and the city’s new waterfront park/dock area with Sullivan and called it a harrowing experience. The group said Sullivan had to dodge vehicles because she couldn’t access sidewalks. Some businesses do not have accessible entrances, Simeon Goldman, an attorney for the group, told Mayor Dennis Baker in a letter dated Aug. 27.
“Not only has nothing been accomplished toward improving accessibility of the existing construction, but your brand new waterfront park has no accessible parking or accessible path to the dock,” Goldman wrote. “Intentionally or not, you have telegraphed the message that Mechanicville could not care less about its disabled citizens.”
The organization has threatened to take legal action against the city if it does not develop a plan within 100 days to fix its sidewalks, create and fix curb cuts and install signs so people with disabilities have equal access to the downtown business district. Disability Rights New York demanded the city respond by Friday. As of Thursday, the group had heard nothing, Goldman said.
Reached by phone about the matter last week, the mayor said he was vacationing in Washington, D.C., and referred comment to Accounts Commissioner Mark Seber, who is deputy mayor. Seber declined comment, citing the possibility of litigation.
Sullivan grew up in Mechanicville and graduated from Siena College in 2004. Her father, Michael Sullivan, also had muscular dystrophy, an inherited disorder that involves muscle weakness and loss of muscle tissue. Michael Sullivan advocated for disabled persons, his daughter said. He died in 2009 at age 68. “My father was in a wheelchair as far as I remember,” Sullivan said. “It was something I was very conscious of since a young age — what’s accessible, what’s not.”
Mary Sullivan works from home as an accountant. She enjoys her independence and wants the freedom to travel on her own. “I want to be able to get around my town safely,” she said.
She said she tried to speak with city officials about the accessibility problems. “All they say is ‘we’re broke, we’re broke, we’re broke,’” she said. The city is responsible for maintaining curb cuts and making sure property owners fix their sidewalks.
Disability Rights New York provided the city information about possible funding opportunities, Goldman said. In its letter, the group told Baker that it will sue the city in federal court if it does not approve a plan to improve access for disabled persons and complete the work within a year.
“I also urge you to take the walk I did accompanying Ms. Sullivan — you might actually see accessibility as more than just another costly, government-imposed mandate,” Goldman told Baker in the letter.
Posted on September 11, 2014 | By Dennis Yusko
Mary Sullivan steered her motorized device up Hill Street in Mechanicville, carefully hugging the side of the road to avoid oncoming vehicles that zipped dangerously close.
Sullivan, like her late father, has muscular dystrophy. She began using a four-wheel scooter three years ago, when the degenerative disease made it too difficult for her to walk. She doesn’t let the disability dictate her life. She rides around the one-square-mile city, completing chores and meeting friends.
But Sullivan, 32, learned it wasn’t easy getting around downtown Mechanicville. The pavement on many of the city’s sidewalks is broken, uneven or filled with weeds, making them impassable for wheelchairs and other devices. Some sidewalks were built without curb cuts. That forces Sullivan and others with disabilities to travel on streets because they can’t get onto the sidewalks.
“It’s very dangerous,” said Sullivan, who grew up in the city. “My biggest fear is getting stuck by myself. Then I have to wait for someone to help me.”
Sullivan is leading a fight to bring the city and its commercial district into compliance with access requirements of the U.S. Americans with Disabilities Act. She said she informed city officials about the problems two years ago, but they did nothing. She then filed a compliant with Disability Rights New York, an advocacy group based in Albany, to get Mechanicville to repair its downtown sidewalks and require city businesses to fix theirs.
Last month, members of the disability rights group toured Main Street, Central Avenue, the crosswalk to Price Chopper Plaza and the city’s new waterfront park/dock area with Sullivan and called it a harrowing experience. The group said Sullivan had to dodge vehicles because she couldn’t access sidewalks. Some businesses do not have accessible entrances, Simeon Goldman, an attorney for the group, told Mayor Dennis Baker in a letter dated Aug. 27.
“Not only has nothing been accomplished toward improving accessibility of the existing construction, but your brand new waterfront park has no accessible parking or accessible path to the dock,” Goldman wrote. “Intentionally or not, you have telegraphed the message that Mechanicville could not care less about its disabled citizens.”
The organization has threatened to take legal action against the city if it does not develop a plan within 100 days to fix its sidewalks, create and fix curb cuts and install signs so people with disabilities have equal access to the downtown business district. Disability Rights New York demanded the city respond by Friday. As of Thursday, the group had heard nothing, Goldman said.
Reached by phone about the matter last week, the mayor said he was vacationing in Washington, D.C., and referred comment to Accounts Commissioner Mark Seber, who is deputy mayor. Seber declined comment, citing the possibility of litigation.
Sullivan grew up in Mechanicville and graduated from Siena College in 2004. Her father, Michael Sullivan, also had muscular dystrophy, an inherited disorder that involves muscle weakness and loss of muscle tissue. Michael Sullivan advocated for disabled persons, his daughter said. He died in 2009 at age 68. “My father was in a wheelchair as far as I remember,” Sullivan said. “It was something I was very conscious of since a young age — what’s accessible, what’s not.”
Mary Sullivan works from home as an accountant. She enjoys her independence and wants the freedom to travel on her own. “I want to be able to get around my town safely,” she said.
She said she tried to speak with city officials about the accessibility problems. “All they say is ‘we’re broke, we’re broke, we’re broke,’” she said. The city is responsible for maintaining curb cuts and making sure property owners fix their sidewalks.
Disability Rights New York provided the city information about possible funding opportunities, Goldman said. In its letter, the group told Baker that it will sue the city in federal court if it does not approve a plan to improve access for disabled persons and complete the work within a year.
“I also urge you to take the walk I did accompanying Ms. Sullivan — you might actually see accessibility as more than just another costly, government-imposed mandate,” Goldman told Baker in the letter.
