If they revealed this ‘taxi of tomorrow’ already, why did they re-reveal it last night? Confused? You’re not the only one.

Well, here’s the short version; Disability Rights Advocates (a non-profit legal centered dedicated to civil rights for people with disabilities) brought the City to court over the initial taxi of tomorrow–arguing that the taxi’s design violated ADA regulations, and guess what? They won.

You can get the whole rundown on the issue in AXS Map’s video blog.

The Judge mandated that until a detailed proposal was forthcoming, for “meaningful” long-term access to those with disabilities, the City could not move forward with it’s outer-borough taxi plan.

Since then the City have appealed and the case goes to court on April 19th. With a  court case looming, you would be forgiven for thinking that the City and the Taxi and Limousine Commission, would want to keep a low profile on the issue. How wrong you could be; last nights  ticker tape launch for for a new taxi that is still not accessible.

At this stage, the City and the Mayor’s ignorance and apparent fixation on releasing an inaccessible taxi cab for New York City, is there for all to see.

“If he wants to be a true visionary, Mayor Bloomberg should end his administration’s appeal of our lawsuit and agree to a 100 percent accessible fleet,” said Edith Prentiss, chair of the Taxi for All campaign, “If it can be done in London, where every taxi now is accessible, it can be done in New York.”

As reported by AXS Map in February, the City appealed Judge Daniels December decision in favor of the DRA (citing that the lower court overreached it’s power). The decision mandated that the TLC provide a plan that included “meaningful access” to those with mobility disabilities, and came hours after the Mayor and Governor agreed on a new outer-borough taxi plan.

Crucially, the judges ruling also stipulated that any new taxi permits distributed–in the time it took to draw up and have the new plan approved–would have to be fully mobility disability accessible. This provided an obvious problem for the City with it’s hostile attitude towards disabilities.

In essence, a stay is not much of a game changer, “We are disappointed in the ruling, but it is a largely procedural matter and it doesn’t have any bearing on the merit of the case”, Kara Janssen–attorney for the accessibility advocates–told Capital New York

The hearing of the appeals court will take place on April 19th. Watch this space.

Yesterday the Cities bullheaded plan, to go ahead with their second taxi dispatch system for those with disabilities, was rejected by Comptroller John Liu. The City submitted the contract with a company called Metro Taxi, despite their previous disability dispatch service being a  unmitigated failure.

As AXS Map have reported in depth, the Cities lucrative outer-borough taxi plan (that Mayor Bloomberg is banking huge stakes of his 2013 budget on), has been stalled until they submit a detailed long term plan for accessible taxis and is approved by both; the Department of Transportation and a judge.

The official reason for rejection by the comptroller, as reported by Capital New York, included a failure to provide a number of key documents (not the first time the TLC have forgotten some ‘key’ documents)–like  the small matter of proving the $150,000 payment Metro Taxi is to have made, in accordance with it’s contract.

The Bloomberg administration’s actions hardly speak of an entity that want to make New York City more inclusive. Given all the time and money spent looking at alternatives, one must wonder if even Mayor Bloomberg himself, wishes he had of chosen an accessible; “Taxi of Tomorrow” option in the first place.

In a separate story, posted on the Washington Post’s website on Saturday, Jay Mathews reported on how teachers in Heather Hills Elementary School had refused to check a girl with ADHD’s bag before she left for home. Under Section 504 of the federal laws, schools should assign a teacher to check a child with ADHD’s backpack before she leaves the school, making sure she all her materials for homework.

The girl’s mother, Tracy Thompson said that the teachers refusal to check her daughter’s bag, has lead to tears and unfinished homework. Some of the main characteristics of having ADHD is trouble with organization. Ms. Thompson said that one teacher told her, ““I do not and will not take responsibility for packing [the child’s] book bag.” Presumably, the same teacher wouldn’t refuse helping a wheelchair using student up a ramp, emphasizing the ignorance inherent in this–almost embarrassingly simple–case.

These are just two stories from the weekend, which tell us that basic ignorance about disability, still reigns in some parts.

It is worth remembering that this ability to join, form groups, and make connections of support, is something those with rare diseases and disabilities have known and utilized for a long time. A Pew Study last year confirmed this, it found that those with rare diseases are leading the pack when it comes to internet usage.

“Peer-to-peer health care is a national trend for the worried well, for people with acute illness, and for those living with chronic conditions,” said Pew researcher Susannah Fox, “but the people living with rare disease take it to the next level.”

AXS Map founder Jason DaSilva found out from Eva Markvoort in 2009–when he interviewed her before her sad death–how helpful connecting with people online was for her, during her battle with cystic fibrosis. You can view Jason’s interview with Eva below.

 

The Bloomberg administration however, feels that their compromise with Albany and Mayor Coumo—to make 20 percent of the 18,000 new cabs accessible—suffices enough to negate the need for a new plan. According to WNYC Lawyers for the City appeared in court yesterday appealing the need for a new plan.

Bloomberg’s proposed new accessible cabs would work on a dispatch basis; a wheelchair user would call up and wait for a cab to come to them, which aligns nicely with Mayor Bloomberg’s belief that “wheelchair users can’t hail cabs off the street”, and that it’s too “dangerous” for them.

The case has now become hugely important for Mayor Bloomberg, has he has already factor the $1 billion that will be raised from the sale of the new cabs into his 2013 budget. With the stakes high risk the appeal although not a shocking surprise, seems labored. Many will wonder why can’t someone just write the report?

Previously, the some 16,000 children in New Jersey with physical and intellectual disabilities came under the umbrella Division of Developmental Disabilities—and not differentiating between child and adult.

Many say that this creation of a new state agency is just as important as the cash injection. “This will allow us to look at the needs of the whole child through one agency,” said Human Services commissioner Dawn Apgar, Speaking to NorthJersey.com.

The added $24 million and the creation of the new division for children, should help reduce the 7,800 large waiting list for those with disabilities who wish to start on community service programs.

“The concept is to treat the whole child and the whole family in one place,” said Governor Christie, “The division will develop an integrated set of services – and for these families, make government work smarter and better. It will also provide a transition process through adolescence to adult services.”

Expanding on the theme of streamlining Government services, the Governor also proposed the creation of a dedicated senior service division; Division of Aging Services, which will manage nursing home and community care.

The volunteers were absolutely amazing, coming from different backgrounds. One person was an engineer, another was an architect, another works for Google. They all took the task at hand seriously and with a discretionary eye.

I could imagine this being done on a regular basis in different parts of the city, so that the database emerges – allowing us to track accessibility by a user generated data set.

We looked at the entrance ways of places, for example, what businesses had a ramp or or street level. They get included into the database. Places that have a step or two to get in to not get included in the database. It’s as simple as that.

On another note, I definitely want to send thanks to this website…

http://transabled.org/

it is inspiring to read the words and perspectives on Body Integrity Identity Disorder!

My reality is I wake up to the door and knock the home health aide. My wife Alice goes to the door, let them inside, and I slowly wake up to spend another day trapped inside my body. There is no way to alleviate way that primary progressive multiple sclerosis has affected me. It came on just as a swaggered walk, a slow walk up and down stairs, but slowly and steadily became what it is. In just five years I went from walking without any support to walking with a cane, then to walker, then to a wheelchair, and now I use a power scooter.

Not to mention these days I’m having trouble with my hands – it’s getting harder and harder to type, even feeding myself is becoming a challenge.

And how could I forget mentioning my vision which is slowly but surely corroding. I’m not sure if I’ll be legally blind at some point, but for now these are just blurry and
shaky.

Okay, now that we have my physical situation out of the way, let’s discuss what’s going on in my head these days:

I spend a lot of time in the house. That’s an understatement. When I do go outside, I love it. As the spring breaks into summer, there is no better place to be out and about. For the times that I am outside, I enjoy it so much. I am trying to devise a way that people like me can get out easier and that the challenges that face them out in the world are not so difficult.