Disability rights advocates win ruling over lack of NYC subway elevators
Source: Reuters
U.S. LEGAL NEWS MARCH 6, 2019 / 4:06 PM / UPDATED 12 HOURS AGO
Disability rights advocates win ruling over lack of NYC subway elevators
Brendan Pierson
3 MIN READ
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Citys transit authority violated federal disability law when it replaced a subway stations stairs without installing an elevator, a federal judge has ruled, a decision that could require new elevators in future station renovations.
The ruling, issued on Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos in Manhattan, came as part of a lawsuit against the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) filed in 2016 by disability rights groups, joined last year by the Justice Department.
Ramos found that when the MTA renovates a station in a way that affects its usability, such as by replacing stairs, the federal Americans with Disability Act requires it to install an elevator unless it is technically infeasible, regardless of cost.
Brett Eisenberg, executive director of the disability advocacy group Bronx Independent Living Services, in a statement called the decision a major victory for all New Yorkers who need elevators to access the subway. The group was one of the plaintiffs in the case.
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https://www.reuters.com/article/us-new-york-subway-lawsuit/disability-rights-advocates-win-ruling-over-lack-of-nyc-subway-elevators-idUSKCN1QN2OC