Emily Keller-O'Donnell, Journalist

No Elevator at Renovated Dyckman Street Station

    DNAinfo reporter Carla Zanoni discusses the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's renovation of the Dyckman Street station in Upper Manhattan in this article, "Disability Advocate to Alert Feds About Lack of Access at Dyckman 1 Train Station."

    According to Zanoni, the $24 million project did not include the installation of an elevator because that would have required half of the total project cost. The MTA is only required to spend 20 percent of project funds to increase accessibility at renovated stations.

    Click here to read the article.

Harry's Transportation Woes Live On

    A month before activist Harry Wieder was tragically struck and killed by a taxi, he sent a 26-paragraph email to the city's Department of Transportation (DOT) telling the agency that parking and transportation regulations were progressively making his life more difficult.

    Wieder, a paraparetic dwarf who drove a car for 40 years, said the rise of pedestrian malls on public streets prevent drivers with disabilities from directly accessing sidewalks, and that an increase in "No Standing" and "No Stopping" signs in the past few years have blocked parking at places including Lincoln Center, the Stonewall Bar and the West 47th Street Diamond District, where his family works.

    “When I saw the Public Theater's production of The Pirate of Penzance at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park, I could park easily right at the entrance at Central Park West and West 81st Street,” Wieder wrote.

    “Thirty years later, when I saw the revivals of Hair and Uncle Vanya, I discovered that I could only park in front of a house of worship.”

National Council on Disability Appoints Chair

    The National Council on Disability has appointed a new chairperson. Jonathan Young, who served as associate director of the Office of Public Liaison in the White House prior to starting this position, said he is honored to assume his new responsibility but called the tasks ahead of him enormous.

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

Disabilities Network Becomes Volunteer Organization

    The Disabilities Network of New York City, an advocacy organization headed by Lawrence Carter-Long, will be changing due to economic constraints.

    A coalition of disability organizations, DNNYC reverted to the volunteer organization it was at its inception due to the loss of funding from the Fund for the City of New York that precipitated Carter-Long's departure. The network had been funded and supported by United Way and other contributors in the past.

     Click here to read the full story that was published in Able News.