It’s called “Vision Zero,” but Mayor de Blasio’s plan to reduce traffic deaths has zero vision, an advocacy group for disabled persons claims in a new federal lawsuit.
The nonprofit Center for the Independence of the Disabled New York rolled out a lengthy civil-rights lawsuit against the city and its Transportation Department, alleging officials have been violating the Americans with Disabilities Act for three decades and that navigating Big Apple sidewalks is like tackling an obstacle course if you’re disabled – especially in Lower Manhattan.
The group claims many of the city’s sidewalks and other pedestrian routes “are too dangerous for use” by persons who rely on wheelchairs or walkers or have vision impairments, forcing them to “either travel significant distances out of their way to search for another crossing, or forego using the sidewalks entirely and navigate the streets alongside the hazards of vehicular traffic.”
The Manhattan federal court class-action suit specifically calls out de Blasio, saying his “Vision Zero” plan to eliminate pedestrian and other traffic-related deaths is very flawed.
“While these efforts have cost hundreds of millions of dollars and have helped make [Lower Manhattan] one of the most walkable urban centers in the world for non-disabled persons, the city has largely ignored its legal obligations to the most vulnerable group of pedestrians – persons with disabilities,” the suit says.
Such obstacles, they say, include mid-block sidewalk barriers with raised concrete and pedestrian crossings without curb ramps for wheelchair users or ramps that are too steep or broken.
The suit cites a recent survey that CIDNY conducted of 1,066 curbs in Lower Manhattan. It found that more than 75 percent of the curbs had barriers presenting safety hazards for disabled persons — including nearly 25 percent that had no curb ramp whatsoever.
“The prevalence of dangerous curb ramps and inaccessible pedestrian routes is particularly troubling in lower Manhattan, below 14th Street,” the suit says. “This area is the hub of the government services and commerce in the city and is visited by hundreds of thousands of people daily.”
The suits seeks a court order requiring the city to implement a plan to correct its allegedly flawed sidewalks and other walkways and ensure all future construction and repairs to sidewalks and streets are ADA compliant.
Besides CIDNY, the class-action lawsuit names as lead plaintiffs two disabled persons living in Manhattan: wheelchair-bound Justin Jones and legally blind Myrna Driffen.
DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg issued a statement, saying, “Our Vision Zero plan is crafted to make the city safer for all and our safety improvements are designed with a focus on the most vulnerable users, including persons with disabilities. We are proud of our relationship with advocates for the Disability community, and in recent months we added a Policy Analyst for Accessibility to our Vision Zero team.”