Archinect - News

New York's MTA will officially make 95% of subway stations ADA compliant by 2055

2023-04-11T15:25:00-04:00

A Manhattan federal judge on Friday approved a settlement to a class action lawsuit that locks the MTA into equipping 95% of subway and Staten Island Railway stations with elevators or ramps — with a deadline three decades away. The approval by Judge Edgardo Ramos caps one part of a long-running push by advocates for people with disabilities to improve access to a transit system where merely a quarter of the nearly 500 stations comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

As The City reported, the ruling makes the terms of last June’s landmark settlement official. Judge Ramos told plaintiffs that he knows the push would be a “very difficult thing to achieve.” MTA officials currently plan the upgrades in stages, with 81 stations affected by 2024 as part of the $50 MTA Capital Program; another 85 by 2035; 90 more by 2045; and the final 90 ready by 2055, bringing the total to 346 (or about 95% of the networks total stations).

Chicago will receive $185 million for long-awaited CTA station accessibility upgrades

2022-12-27T13:40:00-05:00

Chicago will receive a total of $185 million in federal funding to make several of its Chicago Transit Authority and Metra stations accessible for disabled riders, officials announced Monday as part of a new program tucked into the bipartisan infrastructure law signed by President Joe Biden last year.

The money is part of the larger $1.75 billion provision set aside for accessibility improvements in various urban transit agencies by the federal infrastructure bill from last year. New York is the only city to receive more. Per the Tribune, a total of 42 of the CTA’s 145 stations are not currently compliant with the ADA’s design standards. Nationwide, the number is thought to be around 900.

“It’s a sorry state,” disabled Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth, an Army veteran who asked for twice the amount of funding before the bill was watered down in congress, told the paper. “I don’t take the ‘L’ in Chicago because I never know if a station is going to be fully accessible for my wheelchair or not.”

Chicago Cubs sued by DOJ over alleged ADA violations in recent Wrigley Field renovations

2022-07-19T14:30:00-04:00

The federal government is taking the Chicago Cubs to court over the team's recent renovations at Wrigley Field, claiming the changes to the ballpark don't comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). According to a lawsuit filed Thursday in federal court by the U.S. Attorney's office in Chicago, the Cubs "failed to ensure that recent additions and alterations at Wrigley Field are readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities.”

Between 2014 and 2019, Wrigley Field underwent a significant overhaul known as “The 1060 Project,” which included new seats, expanded bleachers, a new outdoor concourse, new concessions, upgraded restrooms, new team clubhouses, and more.

The alleged violations to the ADA Standards for Accessible Design were first recognized by the Department of Justice in November 2019. The lawsuit claims the franchise didn’t provide wheelchair users with adequate sightlines, that are further worsened when other fans stand during games. In the general admission areas, wheelchair seating is mainly grouped in the last row of seating sections. In addition, the new premium clubs and group seating areas do not include wheelchair seating.

The lawsuit also highlights flaws with concession stands, restrooms, and walkways throughout the stadium. The Justice Department is seeking a court order requiring the Cubs to address the deficiencies noted in the lawsuit and to compensate visitors for any injuries suf...

Class action lawsuit filed in Hunters Point Library accessibility dispute

2019-11-26T13:29:00-05:00

New York City-based legal group Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) has filed a class action lawsuit against a collection of public agencies representing the borough of Queens, New York "challenging the inaccessibility" of the new Steven Holl Architects-designed Hunters Point Library, according to a press statement.

A press release announcing the suit reads: "Under longstanding disability rights laws, newly constructed buildings must be made fully accessible to people with disabilities. Yet Hunters Point Library, which is an entirely new $41.5 million building constructed after years of in-depth planning, shockingly excludes persons with mobility disabilities from full and equal access to its services through reliance on stairs and other inaccessible features."

The statement argues that a series of "barriers" to accessibility exist at the library, including:

Three levels within the building are "completely inaccessible to persons with mobility disabilities"
The children’s section inc...

Accessibility failures abound in Los Angeles's public and private realms

2019-10-05T12:00:00-04:00

Yes, messy sidewalks are hard. But so are shops and restaurants with steps at their entrances. So are blocks that lack curb cuts or have ones that are poorly designed. So are broken elevators. So is the fact that in L.A., if you’re a disabled person (which is what Radcliff calls himself rather than a person with a disability), you generally have to spend more on rent, because the properties covered by rent stabilization are older ones less likely to be accessible.

The Los Angeles Times takes a look at how a pervasive lack of universal design across Los Angeles makes daily life nearly impossible for disabled people.

0 to 1 approaches special needs design differently

2015-07-03T18:18:00-04:00

Most planners and architects can speak volumes about accessibility requirements [...]. Tamara Petrovic and Garner Oh, partners of the architecture and design firm 0 to 1, are intimately aware of such needs. To address their son’s difficulty with balance and motor skills, the pair developed a range of products for the home that transform his living environment into a safe and appealing space for all members of the family and resist the institutional aesthetic often seen in special needs products.