NYC Subway System Is The Most Inaccessible In U.S., Lawsuit Says

MANHATTAN, NY — New York City's subway system is the least-accessible in the nation and violates local and federal laws by excluding people with disabilities, according to two lawsuits filed Wednesday by three New Yorkers who use wheelchairs and a coalition of disability rights groups.

The lawsuits accuse the MTA of excluding anyone with a disability or who has trouble using stairs or escalators.

The two separate suits accuse the MTA of two failures: The first suit says the system is simply inaccessible and that the overwhelming majority of subway stations lack elevators. According to Disability Rights Advocates, the nonprofit legal center that filed both suits, almost 80 percent of NYC's subway stations lack elevators, and thus are unusable for people who have difficulty walking or climbing stairs. This suit was filed in state court and accuses the MTA of violating New York City Human Rights Law.

Second, the plaintiffs say that in the minority of stations that do have elevators, they are frequently broken, rendering the station inaccessible to anyone who has trouble walking. According to the suit, 25 elevators are broken on any given day in New York City, sometimes for extended periods of time. The MTA's website listed 19 elevators at 15 subway stations as out of service on Wednesday afternoon.

The suit claims the MTA is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Disability Rights Advocates filed the suits along with a coalition of advocacy group and three named plaintiffs, all of whom use wheelchairs and travel around New York City via subway.

Chris Pangilinan, one of the plaintiffs, uses a wheelchair and commutes daily from his home in Brooklyn to his office in lower Manhattan, in addition to traveling to various neighborhoods throughout the city for social and cultural events. When Pangilinan first moved to New York City, he found few neighborhoods that were both affordable and accessible, according to the suit. He eventually settled in downtown Brooklyn, in part because of the neighborhood's proximity to at least two different subway station that were wheelchair-accessible, the suit says. He figured that if one elevator was broken, there would be a nearby station with a functioning one.

But, according to the suit, "even though he chose his apartment to have reliable access to the subway so that he could commute to and from work and otherwise travel around New York City with the same speed and convenience as New Yorkers without disabilities, Mr. Pangilinan’s travels are nonetheless routinely complicated by various obstacles that effectively exclude wheelchair users like himself. "

Pangilinan commutes from his Brooklyn home to his lower Manhattan office every morning, but often has to take longer routes because of elevator problems. The elevators are broken at the station closest to his home about once a week, and about once every other week they break at the station closest to his work, according to the suit.

It also notes areas of the city that lack elevator-equipped stations altogether. When Pangilinan wants to visit Chinatown, for example, he typically wheels more than two miles across the Manhattan Bridge because most of the stations in the Chinatown neighborhood are not accessible, the suit says.

The plaintiffs are not seeking damages, but are asking the MTA to address the alleged violations and improve accessibility throughout the city.

Rebecca Rodgers, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs, told Patch that the issue of subway accessibility was one of critical importance to all New Yorkers, and not just travelers in wheelchairs.

"As critical as this issue is for people with disabilities, as it can keep them off the subway entirely, this does affect all New Yorkers," she said.

The MTA, which is a state-run agency, declined to comment on the lawsuits specifically.

"The MTA has been committed to serving the needs of disabled customers through subway service, fully accessible bus service and the MTA’s Access-A-Ride (paratransit) program," agency spokeswoman Beth DeFalco said in a statement.

"That commitment continues to be evident in our current Capital Plan where we are spending more than $1 billion to increase the number of ADA-compliant subway stations and replace existing elevators and escalators. We cannot comment on pending litigation – therefore we can’t address these specific lawsuits."

Lead image via Patch.