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Wheelchair User Fights the MTA Over Subway Platform Gaps


mark1447

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[float=left]post-5097-0-12681700-1345143369_thumb.jpg[/float]Michele Kaplan was born legs first, which she says may have been part of the reason that at age 35, she could no longer walk.

 

But the official diagnosis is a growing cyst on her cerebellum that she calls the Squatter. Because of the cyst, Kaplan lost her job as an administrative assistant, was forced to go on disability and now uses a wheelchair.

 

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I'm sure this should regurgitate the usual subways aren't for disabled folks remarks... <_< So let's see... Let's encourage more folks to ride the subways, cut back on buses, but we can't afford to make subways more accessible and then we should cut back on Access-A-Ride. Folks can't make up their damn minds.

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I'm sure this should regurgitate the usual subways aren't for disabled folks remarks... <_< So let's see... Let's encourage more folks to ride the subways, cut back on buses, but we can't afford to make subways more accessible and then we should cut back on Access-A-Ride. Folks can't make up their damn minds.

 

I do agree people use both subway but yet use Access-A-Ride hmmm :unsure:
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I'm sorry, but people have used wc in the past and now this person sues out of the blue? I don't buy her bs at all. Just a way to get rich quick. People need to realize that this system was never intended to be fully ada in the first place. And rather than to waste millions to get every platform to be 100% ada compliant, why not just send the wc rider a cab and have the tlc send the bill to the MTA? The taxi gets the wc rider from point a to b directly and the MTA can use the money for more important matters such as fixing up decaying stations. Fix all the stations in the system including the god awful Chambers st, and then they can allocate the budget to making platforms as 'gap free' as possible.

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I'm sorry, but people have used wc in the past and now this person sues out of the blue? I don't buy her bs at all. Just a way to get rich quick. People need to realize that this system was never intended to be fully ada in the first place. And rather than to waste millions to get every platform to be 100% ada compliant, why not just send the wc rider a cab and have the tlc send the bill to the MTA? The taxi gets the wc rider from point a to b directly and the MTA can use the money for more important matters such as fixing up decaying stations. Fix all the stations in the system including the god awful Chambers st, and then they can allocate the budget to making platforms as 'gap free' as possible.

 

 

You have to understand that at one time she was an able bodied person like you and now she has been forced to get around in a wheelchair. Imagine the frustration of being able to go wherever you want when you want and that being suddenly taken away from you. People usually don't care about things like this until they realize that it affects them, so it makes sense that she is suing.

 

As I said before folks can't make up their mind. The MTA wants to force disabled people to use the bus and cut Access-A-Ride instead of making more subway stations ADA accessible. I still think that this nonsense about having a certainly amount of monies go to artwork is a complete waste. Getting people around should be the #1 priority over artwork.

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I agree the artwork is a waste of money, but so is making every platform in the system lined up to eliminate all the gaps. My whole point is fix all the stations (especially the Sea Beach stations) to decent condition. Once all stations are at tolerable levels, then worry about standardizing the platforms. 'Needs of the many outweighs the needs of the few.'

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The Subway isn't meant for people in wheelchairs. I do agree that the MTA should stop spending money on the art crap. Who gives a damn about the art. People want to go where they need to go. I can say some of it is cool, but it is unnecessary.

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In general people will do anything to get to sue and collect. Not going to comment on the weelchair bound lady in this case, as I don't exactly know what hardships she's dealing with so it would'nt be fair to jump to conclusions.

 

But yeah generally, that's what people do, all trigger happy quick to file a lawsuit for frivilous reasons just for the sake of getting money and nothing else.

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I'm sorry, but people have used wc in the past and now this person sues out of the blue? I don't buy her bs at all. Just a way to get rich quick.

 

But yeah generally, that's what people do, all trigger happy quick to file a lawsuit for frivilous reasons just for the sake of getting money and nothing else.

 

Did you people even bother reading the article? No where in it does it she's suing anybody. She's just running a petition campaign to get the MTA to use bridge plates on the subway and to allow employees to help disabled riders onto trains.

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I agree the artwork is a waste of money, but so is making every platform in the system lined up to eliminate all the gaps. My whole point is fix all the stations (especially the Sea Beach stations) to decent condition. Once all stations are at tolerable levels, then worry about standardizing the platforms. 'Needs of the many outweighs the needs of the few.'

 

 

It is only a "few" because the subways aren't accessible for needs of MANY disabled people. In this day and age this should not be happening. I get tired of hearing that there are only a "few" disabled people. There are plenty of disabled people around and they have to get around too. The MTA doesn't want them having Access-A-Ride because they claim it is too costly and tries to force them onto the bus and then they can't even make the subways more accessible, even as they re-do tons of stations. It's ridiculous. If they don't want to pay for Access-A-Ride, then take the bloody money and use it to fix up the subways and make them more accessible.

 

 

Did you people even bother reading the article? No where in it does it she's suing anybody. She's just running a petition campaign to get the MTA to use bridge plates on the subway and to allow employees to help disabled riders onto trains.

 

 

lol... Sorry but the next step would be a lawsuit and quite frankly if I were in her shoes I would do the same thing.

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Did you people even bother reading the article? No where in it does it she's suing anybody. She's just running a petition campaign to get the MTA to use bridge plates on the subway and to allow employees to help disabled riders onto trains.

 

 

I just skimmed through it while rushing to get my tail out of the apartment to work. Thank you for bringing that out.

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Reading the article more closely I'm getting the fact that Kaplan was writing to the MTA, with generic responses which stated “Thank you for taking the time to bring this to our attention. We will pass this on to the appropriate supervisors.” This was happening to her for months with no actual results and getting the runaround. Therefore she started to catch the attention of the media by starting a campain called "Mind The Gap" to give the MTA the wake up call..

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The height of the train varies depending on its load. It's impossible for the floor of the train to line up perfectly with the platform always, since sometimes it's empty and sometimes it's crowded. The ADA guidelines were designed with standard wheelchairs with large wheels in mind. She's using a scooter with small wheels that fall into the gap, and that's why she keeps getting stuck.

 

I feel bad for her, but she's up against the laws of physics, and complaining to the MTA and to the press isn't going to change that.

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The height of the train varies depending on its load. It's impossible for the floor of the train to line up perfectly with the platform always, since sometimes it's empty and sometimes it's crowded. The ADA guidelines were designed with standard wheelchairs with large wheels in mind. She's using a scooter with small wheels that fall into the gap, and that's why she keeps getting stuck.

 

I feel bad for her, but she's up against the laws of physics, and complaining to the MTA and to the press isn't going to change that.

 

 

I'd beg to differ...

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Physics is one thing... Getting the MTA to do something is another thing... You seem to be confusing the two.

 

 

So how do you think the MTA is going to come up with a car whose precise floor height is independent of weight?

 

As I said before, if she had a standard wheelchair with large wheels, she'd have no trouble getting over that gap. Instead, she's using a scooter with small wheels, which are getting stuck.

 

If her goal is to complain, then she should continue doing what she's doing now. If her goal is to ride the subway, then she should get a wheelchair that the subway's ADA accommodations were designed for.

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So how do you think the MTA is going to come up with a car whose precise floor height is independent of weight?

 

As I said before, if she had a standard wheelchair with large wheels, she'd have no trouble getting over that gap. Instead, she's using a scooter with small wheels, which are getting stuck.

 

If her goal is to complain, then she should continue doing what she's doing now. If her goal is to ride the subway, then she should get a wheelchair that the subway's ADA accommodations were designed for.

 

 

That's another issue. Your point seems to be that the MTA won't do anything. They may very well do something if she can get enough signatures and enough publicity.

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Here's an idea; if subway cars are routinely coming in 2-6 inches above platform height, what about simply raising the part of the platform 50 or so feet on either side of the spotting board by an inch or so, with a gentle incline down to the rest of the platform. That way trains will come in an inch or two above or an inch or two below the platform rather than two to six inches above. The other thing that could be done fairly inexpensively is to add an inch or so to the width of the platform in those locations on each side so that the gap isn't so big widthwise.

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