Emily Keller-O'Donnell, Journalist

Senator Harkin Holds Transportation Accessibility Hearing

    U.S. Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa, who introduced the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), is weighing in on the accessible taxi debate in New York City.

    Harkin held a hearing called “The Americans with Disabilities Act and Accessible Transportation: Challenges and Opportunities” November 17^th to reflect on recent developments including a class action discrimination lawsuit by the Taxis For All Campaign against the City’s Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC).

    The Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee sponsored the hearing where experts in the field were invited to speak.

Mayor’s Office Holds Disability Mentoring Day

    The Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD) held a series of events for Disability Mentoring Day, a part of National Disability Employment Awareness Month.

    The eighth annual event linked jobs seekers who have disabilities with potential employers and provided opportunities for networking, mentoring and work experience in the job seekers’ preferred fields.

    The main event took place October 19 when job seekers were able to shadow professionals to gain knowledge about their day-to-day work and how to prepare for their careers. The employers learned about the value that people with disabilities bring to their professions.

Disabled in Action Joins Occupy Wall Street

    Members and supporters of Disabled in Action (DIA) joined the Occupy Wall Street movement, gathering at Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan on October 16^th.

    Pat Walls, who attended the event with her husband Phillip Walls, said Occupy Wall Street reminds her of her college days as she spoke out against government service cuts.

    “Specifically, I am really afraid of the cuts to homecare services because I am really dependent on my home attendant,” said Walls. She also criticized a new limit for physical and occupational therapy to twenty visits a year, which restricts her ability to receive care for her leg problems.

    (David Dopico and Phillip Walls pictured)

Judge Denies Disability Benefits Based on Substance Use

    An upstate New York judge has ruled that a man with physical and emotional impairments can be denied disability benefits because his condition allegedly resulted from alcohol and opioid dependence.

    Judge Richard J. Arcara of the United States District Court of the Western District of New York said that the plaintiff, Charles L. Cutler, is not disabled under the Social Security Act because alcohol and substance use are a significant factor of his disability and that the plaintiff would no longer be disabled if he stopped his alleged substance use.

New York State Suspends Care Workers

    Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office has suspended 120 New York State workers who serve people with developmental disabilities due to allegations of neglect and abuse of people under their care.

    The employees, who work at residential facilities contracted through the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD), are being investigated for possible termination and potential criminal charges, according to news reports. Their pay has been suspended pending results of the investigation.

Taxi and Limousine Commission Approves Purchase of MV-1

    The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) unanimously approved a regulation change to allow wheelchair users to sit in the front of taxi and livery vehicles, paving the way for the industry to purchase MV-1 vehicles.

    The MV-1, which is manufactured with a ramp at production, is considered more durable than vehicles that are retrofitted to become accessible later.

    Production of the MV-1 began several weeks ago and there is already a back order of 4,000 vehicles, with the first 1,000 sold out. Fred Drasner, chair of the Vehicle Production Group that makes the MV-1 said the company plans to sell 12,000 vehicles next year. The MV-1 sells for about $39,000 and Drasner said the vehicle’s fuel efficiency and natural gas incentives from the government will help offset the cost.

Advocates Sue City Over Emergency Preparedness

    Disability Rights Advocates has filed a discrimination lawsuit against Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the City of New York, charging them with failing to include people with disabilities in emergency planning.

    The lawsuit filed in Federal District Court in the Southern District of New York reflects on both Tropical Storm Irene and the 9/11 attacks. As the storm approached the city as a Category 1 hurricane, advocates say city officials’ televised announcements did not include sign language interpreters, evacuation maps were not usable to people with low vision and school buses that were used for evacuations did not contain lifts or seating areas for people with mobility disabilities.

Court Requires Accessibility of Co-op City Door

    John Rose has the right to enter his Co-op City home through the building’s front door, a Bronx Supreme Court judge has ruled, requiring the building’s management company to make renovations. However, the damages awarded to the tenant were far lower than what the New York City Human Rights Commission said he deserved.

    Rose, who has cerebral palsy, had asked River Bay Corp. to make the front door accessible in 2008. The company said it would make the side door accessible instead and Rose said that made him feel like a “second-class citizen.”

    Rose has lived in the building for 30 years. As his condition progressed, weakening his arm and leg muscles, he would sit outside the door waiting for someone to open it. When the company renovated the side door for him to use two years after his request for front door accessibility, Rose refused to use it.

    “I’m not going to give up my fight,” he said.

Obituary of Michael Imperiale

    Imagining New York City and the world without Michael Imperiale’s booming voice, friendly smile and firm opinions is to imagine a place that is blander, colder and less direct. Imperiale passed away last month at the age of 74. He lived on the Lower East Side and was the 34-year partner of the late Frieda Zames.

    Disability rights activist Anne Emerman said, “Michael was a quintessential downtown guy, riding a scooter, wearing a big Western hat and a poncho. Bus drivers said he was the mayor of the Lower East Side.”

    Imperiale was the lead singer for the Disabled in Action Singers and liked to play chess and sing in Washington Square Park. “Michael was a big, warm-hearted person. Children and animals loved him,” Emerman said.

    Nadina LaSpina and her partner Danny Robert said Imperiale was the first person they called for a civil rights or peace protest because he could convey a message with great volume and he was always ready to start a chant, which he enjoyed more than meetings. They knew him for 20 years.

    “He was irrepressible, once he got something in his head he didn’t care what anybody said,” Robert said. “Of course he had a really beautiful singing voice and he would break out in song at any time he wanted to.”