Apr 14, 2009
MS activists raise awareness about inaccessible MTA subway stations at Mets home opener
NEW YORK, NY – Assembly Member Micah Kellner and Council Member John C. Liu (District 20) joined advocates from the New York City Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in a demonstration to the highlight the inaccessibility of NYC’s subway system at the Mets/Willets Point subway station of Citi Field on Monday, April 13, the night of the Mets home opener. Representatives from the Center for Independence of the Disabled of New York, Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled and Disabled in Action also attended.
The subway station at Citi Field, the Mets/Willets Point stop on the Number 7 line, is only accessible to people with disabilities on the Queens-bound side. People traveling toward Manhattan who require accessible accommodations will need to travel against the crowd to reach the platform on which they arrived and take the 7 train in the direction opposite their intended destination to the very last stop on the line. Once they arrive at the last stop, they will transfer to a Manhattan bound train in order to complete their journey. The entire process is an enormous inconvenience and increases the time it would have taken had the MTA installed an elevator at the Mets/Willets Point stop.
View photos of the MS activists at the Mets/Willets Point subway station.
People with disabilities frequently experience a variety of challenges navigating mass transit including inaccessible subway stations, non-working elevators, inadequate signage and dangerously large gaps between platforms and trains. “The MTA’s decision to make only one side of the Mets/Willets Point station ‘accessible’ represents a larger issue with the NYC subway system. This was the perfect opportunity for the MTA to demonstrate that accessibility is a priority. Instead, accessibility appears to be a mere afterthought at this newly renovated station. The NYC subway system continues to be an elusive option for people with disabilities who want to use it for anything from getting to their jobs to attending the incredible events NYC has to offer such as Mets games,” said PJ Weiner, manager of advocacy programs for the NYC Chapter of the National MS Society.
“It makes no sense that New York City has a new, accessible stadium subsidized by taxpayer funding, and the MTA failed to make this major destination accessible by subway,” said Linda Ostreicher, director of Public Policy, Center for Independence of the Disabled of New York.
Last May, two bills were proposed to address accessibility issues. The first would create the MTA Riders Council for People with Disabilities (A.10734-A/S.7817), a 14-member appointed council will be geographically diverse representing riders who use NYC Transit, the Long Island Rail Road and Metro North systems. The Council will have a non-voting seat on the MTA Board and will monitor all aspects of the MTA and make recommendations for improved services. The second bill (A.10420/S.7348) requires daily inspections of elevators, escalators, bus lifts and other accessibility features in MTA facilities and establishes documentation requirements and oversight for their repair.
About the New York City Chapter
The New York City Chapter of the National MS Society is committed to helping the thousands of New Yorkers impacted by MS continue moving their lives forward. The chapter raises funds locally to support the Society’s critical research initiatives and to provide hundreds of comprehensive support services and educational programs to people living with MS, their family and friends. Visit www.MSnyc.org for more information.
About the National Multiple Sclerosis Society
The National MS Society helps each person address the challenges of living with MS. In 2008 alone, through its national office and 50 state network of chapters, the Society devoted over $136 million to programs that enhanced more than one million lives. To help move closer to a world free of MS, the Society also invested over $50 million to support 444 research projects around the world. Join the movement at www.nationalMSsociety.org.
Early and ongoing treatment with an FDA-approved therapy can make a difference for people with multiple sclerosis. To learn about the options, individuals should talk to their health care professionals and contact the National MS Society at www.nationalMSsociety.org or 1-800-344-4867 (1-800-FIGHT-MS).
About Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis interrupts the flow of information between the brain and the body and it stops people from moving. Every hour in the United States someone is newly diagnosed with MS, an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted, but advances in research and treatment are moving us closer to a world free of MS. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with more than twice as many women as men being diagnosed with the disease. MS affects more than 400,000 people in the U.S., and 2.5 million worldwide.
###