Emily F. Keller: Journalist

New York State Candidates Examined for Work on Disability Issues

    On November 2, voters will go to the polls to pick a new governor, attorney general, comptroller and Congress members.

    Senate
    Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer is running to keep his seat against Republican Jay Townsend, Colia Clark of the Green Party and social activist Randy Credico.
    Schumer fought for funding for an independent living center and an employment service for people with disabilities. The United Spinal Association gave him a certificate of appreciation last year for helping to secure the Community First Choice (CFC) Option and the Community Living Assistance and Supports (CLASS) Act.
    Townsend opposes the health care reform measures that Schumer supported. He, Clark and Credico have no apparent record on disabilities.

Comparing New Jersey Candidates’ Disability Records

    On November 2, voters will go to the polls to choose their representatives in the House of Representatives and State Senate.

    State Senate
    The State Senate candidates for the fifth district of Camden are Donald Norcross and Harry Trout.
Norcross, a Democrat, co-sponsored a bill enabling the state Department of Military and Veterans’ Affairs to start a fund for donations and grants to pay for the purchase and maintenance of an accessible community vehicle that would provide outreach services to disabled veterans.

City Council Holds Hearing on Access-A-Ride Cuts

    The New York City Council examined impacts of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) cuts to Access-A-Ride at a hearing October 7.   

    The Council’s committees on aging and disabilities questioned Joseph Smith, senior vice president of New York City Transit (NYCT) Buses and Steve Lopiano, acting vice president of paratransit about service changes.

    Forty percent of Access-A-Ride (AAR) customers have already experienced service changes and the MTA plans to expand the changes throughout the system next year.    

    Smith said the MTA used the summer to test the changes, making 5,240 feeder service trips and telling AAR customers to use the bus system on their own for 2,777 trips in which they were deemed able to travel the distance to and from the bus stops they needed. There were 35 complaints.

    Click here to read the full article on Transportation Access.

MTA Cancels Access-A-Ride Contracts

    Hundreds of drivers and other employees for two Access-A-Ride contracting companies will lose their jobs by the end of the year due to sudden contract cancellations by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).

    Atlantic Paratrans of NYC Inc. had just signed a ten-year contract with the MTA to provide services for Access-A-Ride last spring, and the MTA unexpectedly discontinued that deal on October 1, said Carolyn Daly, who represents the company.

    “We feel strongly that they did not negotiate in good faith with us,” said Daly, president of Brink Public Affairs LLC. She said the company is considering legal action against the MTA.

    Fifty-two drivers for Atlantic Paratrans were laid off in the first week of October, and layoffs will continue weekly through the end of the year. More than 600 union employees will lose their jobs due to the change, including 451 drivers. The company will also dismiss cleaners, dispatchers, mechanics and safety and security personnel. Drivers say they have no severance package.

    Click here to read the full story on Transportation Access.

National Organization on Aging Will Include Disabilities

    The National Association of State Units on Aging (NASUA) will now include people with disabilities in its service population with an official name change.

    The organization will phase in its new title, the National Association of States United for Aging and Disabilities (NASUAD), over the next few months.

Transit Advocates Announce Lawsuit Against MTA

    Transportation accessibility advocates have used public forums and rallies to protest t he Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) wide-ranging service cuts. Now they are taking legal action.

    Activists stood outside Brooklyn Borough Hall August 17 to announce that they are suing the MTA and its New York City Transit (NYCT) division for cutting and restructuring 33 Brooklyn bus routes, including the elimination of the B39 and B51 routes.

    The cuts took effect June 27 and include changes to subways and Access-A-Ride, which has implemented a reduced trip length for riders who are deemed able to walk from a subway or bus station to their destination.

    The plaintiffs in the case are RueZalia Watkins (pictured), Anthony Trocchia and Clara Reiss – who are unable to use subways due to mobility impairments – as well as Disabled in Action of Metropolitan New York (DIA) and the Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled.

    “Everyone in New York has to have access – not access by appointment,” Watkins said, referring to Access-A-Ride, which requires advance reservations to use. “As long as we sit and stay in our homes and we don’t stand up, they will continue to make cuts," she said about the protest.

    This article is published at Transportation Access and will be printed in the next issue of Able News. Click here to read the story.

MTA Protest: Advocates Demonstrate at Borough Hall

    The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has made wide-ranging service cuts despite citywide community and political efforts to stop them, including an 11th hour protest at Brooklyn Borough Hall on behalf of people with disabilities and seniors.

    The MTA has cut the V and W subway lines, decreased train frequency, eliminated more than 30 bus routes and reduced service on others. The cuts are part of an effort to plug an $800 million budget gap and are expected to save the transit provider $93 million annually.

    The MTA backtracked on a plan to withdraw funding for student MetroCards.

MTA Plans to Reduce Access-A-Ride Service

    The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is moving forward with plans to make deep cuts to Access-A-Ride service during the next several months.

    The MTA will convert 12 percent, or 757,000 door-to-door trips, into a reduced service bringing customers to bus and train stations if they are determined to have the ability to complete the trip on mass transit. This will impact customers whose determinations say they can travel 2 to 5 blocks.

    This article was published in Able News.  Click here to read the article.

Health Care Reform Will Expand Services

    Advocacy organizations are praising the government's passage of health care reform legislation that will expand care options and financial assistance, when needed, to all Americans.

    The House of Representatives passed the Senate's Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care bill (H.R. 3590_ with a 219-212 vote. The House passed the Reconciliation Act of 2010 (H.R. 4872) reforming the bill with a vote of 220-211 in late March.

    The law will improve training for physicians, dentists and allied health professionals in trating people with disabilities. It will ensure coverage of rehabilitation and habilitation products and services and the inclusion of people with disabilities as a focus group in prevention programs by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

    This story was published in Able News. Click here to read page one and here to read page two.

MTA Budget Cuts Will Hit Disabled

    Clara Bailon is one of 900,000 New Yorkers with a disability who is bracing for Metropolitan Transportation Authority service cuts this June that promise to make an already challenging transit system more difficult to use.

    But even as the budget ax falls, disabled riders will continue to benefit from long-term technological and capital improvements that make the system more accessible.

    Bailon of the Bronx is a power-wheelchair user and transit safety advocate who takes buses, subways and Access-A-Ride vehicles to athletic activities, to see family and friends and, occasionally, to attend public hearings—where she tells the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) about accessibility challenges she experiences while traveling.

    This article was published by City Limits. Click here to read the full story.