{"id":306241,"date":"2025-10-15T20:26:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T20:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/306241\/"},"modified":"2025-10-15T20:26:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T20:26:10","slug":"dots-open-streets-hit-legal-roadblock-as-disability-advocates-say-they-are-left-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/306241\/","title":{"rendered":"DOT\u2019s \u2018Open Streets\u2019 hit legal roadblock as disability advocates say they are left out"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"Students\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Courtesy of Open Plans and Transportation Alternatives.<\/p>\n

A group of local disability advocates is making headway on a lawsuit<\/a> against the City of New York that claims the city\u2019s Open Streets program violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).<\/p>\n

Federal Judge Eric Komitee<\/a> will hear oral arguments on Thursday from the plaintiffs, many of\u00a0whom are members of the ADA-advocacy group\u00a0Access for All<\/a>, and the defendants, including the NYC Department of Transportation (DOT)<\/a> and other third-party groups. This marks a significant step in the lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, also known as the Brooklyn Federal Court, on April 24, 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The plaintiffs claim that Open Streets does not provide equal mobility access to public streets. Some members of Access for All have called the program, which launched during the COVID-19 pandemic as a way for locked-down New Yorkers to enjoy open-air space, \u201cableist, ageist and elitist,\u201d as it uses barriers and other heavy steel barricades that people with mobility issues can not lift or operate in order to enter the open-space area.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While the DOT declined to comment on this story due to pending litigation, agency officials have previously said Open Streets has benefits, including economic ones, for nearby businesses.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

A 2022 DOT study<\/a>, conducted with Bloomberg Philanthropies, found that during the first 18 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, restaurants and bars on Open Streets saw their sales grow by an average of 19% above pre-pandemic baseline levels, while those on \u201ccontrol corridors\u201d saw a 29% dip in sales.<\/p>\n

Open Streets are found in all five boroughs<\/a>. Their hours of operation vary.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u2018People can\u2019t come and go through\u2019 Open Streets<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat they actually do is use metal barriers or concrete blocks and obstructions to block the streets and the sidewalks in certain areas,\u201d the plaintiffs\u2019 lawyer, Matthew Berman, told amNewYork. \u201cWhen those streets are blocked off, then you have a situation where there are no cars driving up and down the street, although the barricades have a sign that says \u2018no thru traffic\u2019 except for local traffic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Berman argued that disabled New Yorkers, or anyone with mobility issues, often have trouble lifting barriers to enter the zone.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s really the issue,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople can\u2019t come and go through these blocked-off streets.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Volunteers with local civic groups typically manage open streets, some of which permit parking or deliveries. Barricades, such as steel barriers or cement blocks, are used to block off vehicular traffic, allowing room for pedestrians and cyclists, and in some cases, tables and chairs for relaxation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t object to the fact that these spaces are being used for these purposes,\u201d Berman said. \u201cThe issue is that our clients do not have equal access to the spaces because there is no way for them to get in and out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez holds up his agency\u2019s report on the economic boon of Open Streets on Oct. 25, 2022.Photo by Ben Brachfeld<\/p>\n

Berman noted that in other cities with similar open street programs, accommodations are made for disabled people.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOther cities that have done stuff like this have installed retractable bollards,\u201d Berman gave as an example. \u201cSome cities have used metal ones where they can be pushed down into the ground, go passed them, and lift them back up again.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Still, there are other options, Berman said, such as having volunteer attendants assist people in entering or leaving the open street.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are different kinds of solutions, but nobody wants to do anything,\u201d he said. \u201cThey just want to have this program, and not think about what the impact is on the disabled.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of Berman\u2019s clients have trouble accessing paratransit and rideshare vehicles that cannot drive through a closed street. Generally, employers do not permit drivers to leave their vehicles, even if an Open Streets barrier has to be moved. Disabled customers are often forced to meet Access-A-Ride, \u00a0paratransit and rideshare vehicles on the corners of open streets, according to Access for All members.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Courtesy of Open Plans and Transportation Alternatives. A group of local disability advocates is making headway on a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":306242,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[155137,5229,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,77978,24672,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-306241","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-access-for-all","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-city","12":"tag-newyork","13":"tag-newyorkcity","14":"tag-ny","15":"tag-nyc","16":"tag-open-streets","17":"tag-pm-newsletter","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-united-states-of-america","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","22":"tag-us","23":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115380066067209731","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306241","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=306241"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306241\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}