http://secondavenuesagas.com/2007/10/02/after-accident-disabled-riders-push-for-better-access/ A New York City Subway Blog Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:24:19 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://secondavenuesagas.com/2007/10/02/after-accident-disabled-riders-push-for-better-access/#comment-33564 Second Ave. Sagas | Blogging the NYC Subways » Blog Archive » Handicapped riders navigate a limited subway system Fri, 18 Apr 2008 04:54:21 +0000 http://secondavenuesagas.com/2007/10/02/after-accident-disabled-riders-push-for-better-access/#comment-33564 [...] to riders of the subway who are faced with limited staircase mobility. Disabled riders have long tried to get their voices heard, and it is only as old stations undergo renovations that they must be made [...] [...] to riders of the subway who are faced with limited staircase mobility. Disabled riders have long tried to get their voices heard, and it is only as old stations undergo renovations that they must be made [...]

]]> http://secondavenuesagas.com/2007/10/02/after-accident-disabled-riders-push-for-better-access/#comment-15029 vicki smith Tue, 08 Jan 2008 06:07:43 +0000 http://secondavenuesagas.com/2007/10/02/after-accident-disabled-riders-push-for-better-access/#comment-15029 It's ridiculous. I'm temporarily in a wheelchair and I find I can't take the subway from my home. There is no ramp, no elevator, nothing. I'm staying home or getting rides. In some stations in Manhattan there are many, many stairs to climb. In some there are escalators that don't work or elevators that smell so bad they make you sick. Also, if you're on private disability, you have lost half your income yet you are not eligible to get the MTA discount pass unless you're on Social Security. Even if you qualify for Social Security, the way the system is set up it can take years to get. Some of my doctors are in the suburbs and the train costs are high without the pass. Worse, even for those ON Social Security, the MTA only gives the discount pass for SOME disabilities, those having to do with blindness or walking problems--the point is, regardless of WHY you are disabled, all people on disability are not getting their previous income (or never had any) and can't afford the high commuting prices--they're too high even for many working people. So, you can be unable to walk, and on private disability but not on SS and have to pay full price and be excluded from using many stations. Or you can be unable to work for some other reason, say, and have to pay full price though you are living on practically nothing especially if you are on SSI not SSDI--some people on SSI have NEVER been able to work so they have no savings. The system makes no sense! It’s ridiculous. I’m temporarily in a wheelchair and I find I can’t take the subway from my home. There is no ramp, no elevator, nothing. I’m staying home or getting rides. In some stations in Manhattan there are many, many stairs to climb. In some there are escalators that don’t work or elevators that smell so bad they make you sick.
Also, if you’re on private disability, you have lost half your income yet you are not eligible to get the MTA discount pass unless you’re on Social Security. Even if you qualify for Social Security, the way the system is set up it can take years to get. Some of my doctors are in the suburbs and the train costs are high without the pass. Worse, even for those ON Social Security, the MTA only gives the discount pass for SOME disabilities, those having to do with blindness or walking problems–the point is, regardless of WHY you are disabled, all people on disability are not getting their previous income (or never had any) and can’t afford the high commuting prices–they’re too high even for many working people. So, you can be unable to walk, and on private disability but not on SS and have to pay full price and be excluded from using many stations. Or you can be unable to work for some other reason, say, and have to pay full price though you are living on practically nothing especially if you are on SSI not SSDI–some people on SSI have NEVER been able to work so they have no savings. The system makes no sense!

]]> http://secondavenuesagas.com/2007/10/02/after-accident-disabled-riders-push-for-better-access/#comment-1495 Victoria Fri, 05 Oct 2007 01:26:19 +0000 http://secondavenuesagas.com/2007/10/02/after-accident-disabled-riders-push-for-better-access/#comment-1495 Yeahhh, three stations per year is kind of a poor rate of progress. Yeahhh, three stations per year is kind of a poor rate of progress.

]]> http://secondavenuesagas.com/2007/10/02/after-accident-disabled-riders-push-for-better-access/#comment-1494 stepheneliot Wed, 03 Oct 2007 16:47:58 +0000 http://secondavenuesagas.com/2007/10/02/after-accident-disabled-riders-push-for-better-access/#comment-1494 This article really struck home because of a friend who is wheel-chair bound because of Post-Polio Syndrome. Both she and her husband have fits about the minimal accomodations there are for the handicapped,and the story that appears in today's 2AS poignantly brings this problem to the fore. This article really struck home because of a friend who is wheel-chair bound because of Post-Polio Syndrome. Both she and her husband have fits about the minimal accomodations there are for the handicapped,and the story that appears in today’s 2AS poignantly brings this problem to the fore.

]]>