More than 600 people joined Mayor Michael
Bloomberg and Director of the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities
Matthew Sapolin under a huge tent, on the back lawn of Gracie Mansion,
overlooking the East River, August 16, to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the
signing of the American’s with Disabilities Act. The event was sponsored
by UCP/NYC and the Associated Builders & Owners of Greater New York
(ABOGNY).
 Joining Bloomberg above are, left to right, Sapolin, Sapolin’s
guide dog Compass, UCP Executive Director Edward Matthews and awardees Patrick
Gaston of the Verizon Foundation, Michael Kerr of ABOGNY, Frank Bennack Jr. of
the Hearst Corp. and Michael Imperiali. At right, Imperiali accepts the first
Frieda Zames Advocacy Award which was presented to Zames posthumously.
Bloomberg
spoke about civil rights, the need for accessible housing and the newly signed
bill making ferries accessible.
After personally greeting and taking a picture
with each guest, Bloomberg said, “This is a crowd that really likes to be
here. It’s a group that doesn’t often get invited to Gracie Mansion
and they should be.”
|
|
Nassau County
Honors Steven McDonald 
Nassau County Executive Thomas
Suozzi holds a microphone as New York City Det. Steven McDonald accepts the
first Henry Viscardi Jr. “Trailblazer” award at the County’s
Americans with Disabilities Act 15th Anniversary celebration. The keynote
speaker for the breakfast was James Weisman, general counsel for United Spinal
Association. Speakers included President and CEO of Abilities Edmund Cortez and
Monsignor Thomas Hartman. Disabled recording artist Brittany Maier played
selections on the piano at the event that was hosted by Suozzi and Director of
the County Office for the Physically Challenged Don Dreyer. In the photo above
McDonald’s wife Patricia Ann, back to camera, looks on as do, Weisman and
Cortez, reflected in mirror at right.
|
|
FORGOTTEN AT
15
ADA Rally Brings Erosion Fears to Light 
By Anita Clavering
On July 26,
more than 200 people converged at the New Jersey State House in Trenton to
participate in the “ADA: Forgotten At 15” march and rally.
The event,
which was organized by the New Jersey Council on Developmental
Disabilities’ (NJCDD) “Monday Morning” Project, was not planned
as an anniversary celebration, but as a protest of a perceived lack of
enforcement that some feel is causing the erosion of the Americans with
Disabilities Act.
The ADA was signed in 1990, by Pres. George H.W. Bush, as a federal
civil rights law.
Despite temperatures that exceeded 105 degrees, marchers proceeded
through downtown Trenton to Mill Hill Park, shouting “ADA Won’t Go
Away!” Signs read: “Don’t Whittle Away Our ADA!” and
“Keep the ADA Strong!
There were also signs reacting to actor/director Clint
Eastwood’s involvement in introducing a 90-day notification act in
response to being sued for violations at his Mission Ranch Inn, California, in
2000. They read; “Clint Eastwood: Unforgiven on the ADA!” and
“Go Ahead, Clint! Make Our Day! Don’t Shoot Down The
ADA!”
In the years since the ADA was passed, its power as a
federal law shifted from the Supreme Court to a decision of the states, a
change that advocates for people with disabilities say weakens it. In many
cases, businesses and other public buildings still do not comply with ADA
accessibility requirements.
“One of the greatest offenders to the ADA has been
the state of New Jersey,” said Ethan Ellis, NJCDD executive director.
“Many of its buildings are not accessible.”
Maryann
Huntsberger, a freelance writer in the disabled community who was present at
the event, said, “I would like to be able to get into buildings and
stores. I hope this march will not only give access to those of us who need it,
but (will see to it that) we are getting it by law.”
Speaking on
the promises of the ADA and its enforcement, Ellis said, “We can make them
come true. No law enforces itself.”
Among the guest speakers were national
civil rights activists Bob Kafka of ADAPT and Jim Ward of ADA Watch, who turned
down invitations to more celebratory functions for the ADA to march and speak
at the rally.
“This is about access, this is about interpreters, this is
about our basic civil rights to live in the community, to integrate into the
community,” said Kafka. And according to Ward, some studies have shown
that 98 percent of court cases under the ADA are decided in favor of employers;
a statistic that Kafka referred to as “fighting words ...Good, bad, and
ugly.”
Monday Morning facilitator Nicole Davis of Mercer County told about
challenges she has experienced with lack of accessibility, and she explained
about the project’s beginning. It was established by the NJCDD 10 years
ago as an initiative to give people with disabilities opportunities to work
with legislators and other public officials on policies to help them get
services and support under state and federal law.
Maryann Valls
of Hudson County, also of Monday Morning, introduced her speech with a tribute
to Colleen Fraser, an activist for people with disabilities who died in the
terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Other topics, by various speakers, focused
on what needs to done to enforce and strengthen the ADA.
“We in
New Jersey are one of all 50 states trying to give a message to Washington
DC,” said march and rally participant Lois Lebbing of Highland Park,
“so we can hope that the ADA is strengthened and not watered down.”
The lack of ADA enforcement is “a difficult issue we are going to face as
we grow older,” she said.
Nancy Hodgins of DIAL Center for Independent
Living said that, while the event is a beginning, the real way to get action is
to increase the number of people with disabilities who will vote in the next
election “and every one after that. Votes are what the legislators
understand,” said Hodgins.
“We are losing this battle,” said
Ward. “The only way we are going to win is by doing what you are doing
today, and that’s putting a human face on the ADA.”
|
