Espa6nol

UNHAPPY NEW YEAR

Club Refused to Admit Wheelchair User

Among the protesters at the Star Nightclub were, back row left to right, Linda Rosenthal, Councilmember Melissa Mark Viverito (D-Dist. 8), Micah Kellner, Councilmember Gale Brewer (D-Dist. 6), Marc Landis and Andrew Kurzweil. In the front row left to right, was an unknown community/disability activist, Michael Harris and Mike Anapol.

By Allison Howe
Picketers gathered outside the Star Nightclub, in Manhattan, in January, to protest its policy not to admit people who use wheelchairs.
The demonstrators, including members of New York’s disability community and elected officials, protested a New Year’s Eve incident in which the club’s manager refused to admit a 21-yearold college student who uses a wheelchair. According to the student the manager said, “It is our policy not to admit people in wheelchairs.”
Despite making advance reservations and being assured that he would be able to get into the New Year’s Eve party, Michael Harris, a Brooklyn resident, was told that he could not come in because of the policy. When Harris, who is also a disability rights advocate, tried to reason with the manager, he was told to leave the area immediately
“Star’s management showed no consideration for me or for the disability community as a whole,” said Harris, “All they cared about were their ablebodied customers.”
According to a Star employee reached by telephone, the club refused admittance to Harris for “safety reasons.” He said that the stairway leading down to the club was extremely narrow and to carry a “350 pound piece of equipment [Harris’ motorized wheelchair] and body weight of at least 150 pounds couldn’t physically be done.” He said that there was the danger of him being dropped while being carried and “what if God forbid there was a fire.” He further commented that there were stairs leading to the bathrooms, which made them basically inaccessible.
Star later issued a statement saying that they would permit people using wheelchairs into the club, but only if they called ahead and were accompanied by a chaperone.
“People with disabilities are independent adults. They shouldn’t have to call ahead, and they certainly shouldn’t need a chaperone,” said Edith Prentiss of Disabled in Action. “For Star to imply otherwise is downright offensive.”
“This is no longer just about me,” said Harris. “It is about respect for the 650,000 New York City residents who use wheelchairs, as well as about respect for basic human dignity. Just because I use a wheelchair, doesn’t mean that I am going to take this situation sitting down.”
According to Harris, he contacted the event’s organizers ahead of time, and they assured him that there wouldn’t be a problem. Harris showed the manager, at the door, the email that stated this.
Harris said the manager responded, “I don’t care who you have an email from. This is my club, you’re in a wheelchair, and so you can’t come in.” He then yelled, “You have to leave now or I am going to have security pick up your wheelchair, throw you out of it and into the street.
Harris called the police who concluded that this was a civil rights matter, not a police matter. He said, that afterward, several customers on the line offered to help carry him down the stairs, but the manager told them, “No people in wheelchairs are allowed in, regardless of how they get in.”
According to a spokesperson from Star, Ted Finkelstein of the Mayor’s office went to the club within days of the original incident, measured the stairway, checked out the fire exits and concluded that it would have been dangerous to admit Harris into the club.
Finkelstein declined to give a statement and referred Able to Betsy Herzog, of the Mayor’s press office, who said “We can’t discuss an open investigation.”
Mark Glazer, spokesperson for Star, conceded that the security staff at the club could have handled things better. He further commented that in the past the club has admitted people who use wheelchairs, but not those that are motorized, which are much heavier and wider. According to Glazer, Harris did not mention in his email that his was a motorized chair. Glazer concluded by saying “Harris is no innocent. He purposely seeks out inaccessible places to cause a scene to get publicity for his cause.”