PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) \u2014 Officials involved in the city\u2019s 2026 semiquincentennial have pledged that the festivities will be accessible to all Philadelphians, including those with disabilities.<\/p>\n
City Councilmember Kendra Brooks called a hearing last week on the matter because of her own difficulties helping people with disabilities navigate past city events.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have an opportunity this year to do better,\u201d she said. \u201cWith so many people affected and so many public dollars going into preparations for 2026, the city must take the time to listen and respond to the needs of people with disabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Guy Brooks of Liberty Resources told the panel that transportation must be a priority, emphasizing bus lane enforcement.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor wheelchair users like me, crossing safely to a bus door can be a matter of life and death,\u201d he said. \u201cGeorgetown University Medical Center found that wheelchair users face a 36% higher risk of being killed in car-pedestrian crashes \u2026 because we are lower to the ground and harder to see. Clear, protected bus lanes and enforcement are essential to preventing tragedy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vicki Landers of Disability Pride said even though the city includes accessibility requirements in its contracts with event producers, she doesn\u2019t see any enforcement mechanism if they fall short.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m urging City Council and the Mayor\u2019s Office to make accessibility a core compliance issue, not a suggestion,\u201d she stressed.<\/p>\n
Michael Anderson urged for plenty of handicapped parking.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor individuals like me who require 24-hour care, a drop-off zone doesn\u2019t work,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The director of Philadelphia 250, Michael Neumis, said his office will use the input as planning progresses. Yvonne Hughes of the Mayor\u2019s Office for People with Disabilities said accessibility will be a priority.<\/p>\n
\u201cAccessibility is not an option. It\u2019s a civil right. A legal mandate,\u201d she added. \u201cIt is a moral imperative and a reflection of our city\u2019s values.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) \u2014 Officials involved in the city\u2019s 2026 semiquincentennial have pledged that the festivities will be…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":300298,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5132],"tags":[5229,1448,2830,1311,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-300297","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-pa","10":"tag-pennsylvania","11":"tag-philadelphia","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-united-states-of-america","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","16":"tag-us","17":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115367703096080996","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=300297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300297\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/300298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=300297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=300297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=300297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}