Dear friends,
 

Council Members G. Oliver Koppell and John C. Liu convened a joint
City Hall hearing today to urge the Metropolitan Transportation
Authority to increase access to the subway system for all New Yorkers,
including those of us with disabilities.  For more information, please
review the excerpt of recent reports below or tune in tonight as CM
Liu discusses this issue in more detail over two broadcasts:
 

7:00PM - Bloomberg Radio (WBBR-AM 1130 in New York)
Webcast at <http://www.bloomberg.com/tvradio/radio/>
 

9:00PM - New York One News (Time Warner Cable) - live broadcast
Webcast at <http://www.ny1.com/ny1/TheCall/>
 

Tune in if you can!
 

Alex Ru
Office of Council Member John C. Liu
 

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NEW YORK ONE NEWS: "MTA Questioned Over Accessibility For Disabled Riders"
<http://www.ny1.com/ny1/NewsBeats/transit.jsp>
 

EXCERPT-
The City Council heard from the MTA and disabled riders Tuesday
regarding handicapped access underground.
 

"New York City Transit Authority proudly touts operating the largest
and best subway system. That may be true for most riders, but for
disabled riders it's one of worst," said an advocate.
 

Citing elevator outages and a lack of support and information,
advocates for the handicapped spoke before the city council to demand
equal access to the city's subways.
 

At the hearing, City Councilman John Liu said the fact that transit
officials were unable to give him a rough estimate of elevator outages
in the subway system is unacceptable.
 

"What level of outage was being experienced by the system and suffered
by the people with disabilities who were relying on those elevators?"
asked Liu. "Any competent manager would have that basic measure
available at the top of their heads if they were truly serious about
decreasing that."
 

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AM-NY NEWS: "Group blasts MTA on access for disabled>
<http://www.amny.com/news/local/am-mta0604,0,1090840.story>
 

EXCERPT-
A botched attempt to make a Queens subway station accessible to
disabled riders could instead leave them stranded, a disabled riders
group charged Sunday.
 

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority spent $6 million to install
three new elevators at the No. 7 train at Junction Boulevard, but
placed a floor-to-ceiling turnstile and locked gate in front of the
exit that prevents wheelchairs from getting through, according to the
Disabled Riders Coalition The exit is also located on an overpass with
no call button to reach a station agent.
 

"The situation is simply inexcusable," said Michael Harris, executive
director of the Disabled Riders Coalition. "It's a real crime to the
people who paid for the stations and it's a real crime for the people
who want to use them."
 

Queens City Councilman John Liu, chairman of the Council's
transportation committee, said the MTA has failed to meet disabled
riders' needs in a rush to meet standards set by federal law.
 

"This would not have happened if the MTA had a really strong
commitment to making access for disabled people," Liu said. "This is a
poor design that was born out of lack of commitment."
 

The station isn't the only one where wheelchair users face difficulty
commuting by subway. Out of 466 subway stations in the city, only 56
are accessible to disabled riders, according to the Disabled Riders
Coalition.
 

Maureen Green, who uses an electric wheelchair, said she has been
trapped several times in subway stations where elevators had broken
down. It's a problem that every subway rider who uses a wheelchair
experiences at least once, Harris said. Once he was carried out of a
station on a gurney by firefighters.
 

"It's a humiliating ordeal," Harris said.