ROMPING THROUGH WHEELCHAIR-ACCESSIBLE MANHATTAN
By Steve Wright and Heidi Johnson-Wright
NEW YORK -- Millions of Manhattan city lights twinkled to the left of us while the East River and its magnificent bridges beckoned to the right. We were 23 stories above the city, sipping martinis, listening to live jazz standards on the piano and soaking up the sights at the Top of the Tower lounge. From our lofty perch amid art deco splendor in the peak of the Beekman Tower, we’d reached that magical time when traveler’s exhaustion gives way to a kind of devil-may-care euphoria that justifies every dollar spent on toney restaurants, skyrocketing hotel rates and rising air fares. The Beekman, a deco-drenched gem and a landmark in the city since its 1928 opening, earns our triple-A rating: scoring high marks in architecture, atmosphere and access for people with disabilities. We did our best to combine our love of design and need for accessibility with our third must -- an endless quest for a sense of place, that intangible thing we call atmosphere.
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