You learn something new every day and to the newly appointed commissioner for New York City Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD) Nisha Agarwal, this holds true.
In an exclusive interview in mid-March, Able News learned that Agarwal is willing to remain a student of the disabled community, even though she did not know how to address certain questions brought to her.
This is the final part of the sequel interview conducted at MOPD’s Manhattan headquarters, where the commissioner said that she planned to “go back and research” topics of healthcare, education, transportation, public safety and climate change, related to people with disabilities.
On Healthcare
After suffering a stroke and being diagnosed with cancer in 2017, the former Executive Director for Policy and Communications at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Division of Mental Hygiene, Agarwal, became very critical about the Medicaid cuts as the lack of funding would impact research for her treatment.
“The Medicaid cuts last time feel really minor compared to now,” she said, realizing that there are exemptions for people with disabilities in the Big Beautiful Bill.
Agarwal said she wants to use her previous experience and contacts at the city health department to get more details on the CDPAP overhaul and discuss protections for New Yorkers with disabilities with Gov. Kathy Hochul.
“I don’t know the details on that frankly, but I’d want to find out a little bit more,” she said.
Another issue that has arisen as Agarwal takes over MOPD leadership concerns 24-hour care coverage and a city proposal that could limit that. Earlier this week, advocates took to the steps of New York City Hall to rally against City Council Intro.303, which would restrict the number of hours home care workers could work in a day without making sure people who have 24-hour care have coverage.
On Education and Transportation
New York City has been facing a special education placement problem long before former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s $325 million investment to send students with disabilities to private schools. Commissioner Agarwal said she wants to meet with New York City Department of Education’s (DOE) Chancellor Kamar Samuels to explore possibilities for the city to restart expansion options for students with physical disabilities into private schools as well as redesign IEPs.
“I’ve heard from disability folks or the parents with kids who have disabilities that we can improve IEP and other stuff. So, that’s the conversation that I will have with the DOE,” she said.
On the topic of transportation and safer streets, commissioner Agarwal went back to her time at Berkeley, where she said the city “was truly universally designed” for people with disabilities. She remembers the landlord at her friend’s apartment being “the OGs of disability rights” in her eyes because they helped create many ADA-compliant accommodations.
She’s eager to pair her current staff—who can ‘draw pictures of new streets and stuff like that’—with the Department of Transportation (DOT), “to design totally accessible streets and sidewalks” because “why can’t we do that in New York City as well?” she asked. DOT has a commitment to deliver on that goal by 2032.
When addressing the accessibility of free buses, she said “Fast is great, but also one that includes everybody is the other.” She understands the concerns of disabled riders when advocates express that reducing the number of stops will limit the number of people with disabilities who can ride the bus.
While also acknowledging that it is not perfect, Agarwal believes Access-A-Ride on demand is better, not free, but she is open to reviewing all options again with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
City-wide Access and Accommodations
Last summer, Able News reported on a group of disabled protesters who were arrested at the Trump Tower. Some faced accessibility barriers in both the transport and at the jail site because restrooms were not ADA-compliant and the city has yet to meet its requirement of having an FDNY or NYPD wheelchair accessible vehicle in every borough.
In response to this question, Agarwal wants to meet with Deputy Mayor for Community Safety Renita Francois to clarify what agencies are best to handle specific situations and how they can all come together to ensure disabled people are treated with dignity.
Agarwal knows that before winning his election, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani proposed a plan for small businesses to help them remain open by cutting fines and fees as well as speeding up the application process and boosting funding to programs that offer support.
However, those supports apply only to disabled veterans who own businesses—not the disability community at large. Agarwal said she will “research that a bit more” as she is also curious about the impact to disabled small business owners.
This winter, the city was hit with back-to-back unprecedented snowstorms that limited the disabled community from getting around freely. MOPD, where Agarwal had not yet stepped into position, received backlash for having minimal communication with city agencies about snow clearances for people with disabilities. Agarwal told Able News that one of the first people she has met with was Chief Climate Officer Louise Yeung for a discussion on safety for people with disabilities in the next event of frigid temperatures or extreme heat.
In collaboration with the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, movie theaters are now required to have closed captions in certain screenings. However, there’s still a shortage of interpreter and captioning services across all sectors of New York accessibility, an aspect she told Able News was completely new to her.
“Very interesting. I hadn’t heard that,” she said. “If disability advocates have shared that with you, I would want to explore that a bit more.”
A Learning Curve
Nobody’s perfect and for MOPD Commissioner Agarwal, that is okay. Her openness to say, ‘I don’t know’ makes her approachable and sincere about wanting to turn the office around with real change.
When talking about the office’s needs to fully support disabled New Yorkers, she said she will use her people skills to get things done: “I will work with the Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to determine what makes the most sense,” she said. “I think one of the things that are good for me is I know everyone and I can get access to people pretty quickly. And discuss what makes the most sense for this moment, for this time, for this reality.”
Talking again and again ’til she gets it right like Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana, “I prefer having regular calls with community members,” she said emphasizing that communication is key under her leadership. “I don’t like the quarterly. That’s like not enough. Having people talk…all of us will agree on some things. There may be disagreements but discuss, and to come up with resolutions is the key to move our ball forward.”
“We should all work together to make sure that our city works for one another. So, that’s like the main goal,” she said.
Commissioner Agarwal is living it and learning it.