NEW YORK MAYOR MAMDANI, PLEASE DO THE MAXIMUM FOR ACCESSIBILITY

HUNDREDS OF CURB RAMPS AND CROSSWALKS 

ARE NOT WHEELCHAIR FRIENDLY

This is one of many shamefully neglected crosswalks at Madison Avenue and East 44th Street in Midtown Manhattan.

Shoddy layers of pavement and potholes create tripping hazards for pedestrians and mobility barriers for wheelchair users.

A SECRET PARK AT THE SOUTHERN TIP OF MANHATTAN

A+ ACCESS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES AT THE ELEVATED ACRE

The Elevated Acre is a hidden, one-acre public park in Manhattan's Financial District, located above street level at 55 Water Street, accessible for pedestrians via an escalator.

It offers a quiet escape with panoramic views of the East River & Brooklyn Bridge

The Elevated Acre features mostly wheelchair accessible terrain with a lawn, amphitheater, benches + raised boardwalk.

ADA access is via the 55 Water Street lobby.

Use the building's elevators to travel to the acre.

I CELEBRATED AMERICA’S 250TH BIRTHDAY IN CONEY ISLAND

ON AN INCLUSIVE, WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE RIDE

Deno's Wonder Wheel one minute before 11 a.m. opening July 4, 2026.

The famous Coney Island attraction is fully wheelchair accessible via stationary cars with level boarding.

A tunnel from the Coney Island Boardwalk to the historic Deno’s Wonder Wheel provides an accessible route to the $10 per ride Brooklyn landmark.

DISABILITY VISIBILITY PROJECT – PHOTO IMAGE NUMBER 100

CONEY ISLAND JULY 4, 2026

Disability Visibility July 4, 2026 at the original Nathan’s hot dogs Coney Island. Celebrating diversity as part of our nation’s 250th.

Annual hot dog eating contest took place right around the corner.

INTRODUCING A TRIPPING HAZARD IS NOT GOOD MOBILITY DESIGN

REMOVE BUMPY SURFACES THAT ENDANGER WHEELCHAIR USERS

It’s time to say goodbye to the pavers that are a wheelchair mobility hazard on the sidewalk hugging Central Park on 5th Avenue in Manhattan.

A smooth, pedestrian friendly surface is urgently needed.

NU STADIUM: HOME OF INTERMIAMI CF

GREAT SIGHT LINES, LOVE TO ROOF CANOPY PROTECTION FROM RAIN

I can now say I saw Lionel Messi play in live in MLS competition.

Great time at my first game at NU Stadium.

InterMiamiCF played to draw vs. my former hometown Columbus Crew.

Great sight lines, concessions, restrooms.

Canopy roof saved us from the rain.

While waiting years for the pedestrian bridge, the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County MUST do a better job for pedestrians walking from the north parking lots.

The sidewalk on 37 Avenue over the Miami River branch is narrow and dangerous for pedestrians.

Close the westernmost south bound lane of 37^th/Douglas Road – to create a safe pathway to the stadium.

I am still evaluating wheelchair access at the stadium.

For the record, I still think it was a boondoggle for City of Miami to give up precious park land for a mega development of hotels, retail, etc. that happens to have a soccer stadium.

I also believe the billionaire developers got a sweetheart dimes on the dollar deal.

But I still want to see a games.

DISABILITY VISIBILITY PHOTOGRAPHY PROJECT

WHEELCHAIR USERS IN DIVERSE PLACES ALL OVER THE WORLD

Disability Visibility Project: The High Line New York. 

Internationally acclaimed linear green space created from a former elevated railway. 

It features multiple elevators and ramps for wheelchair access.

ARCHITECTS THAT WANT TO HIDE WHEELCHAIR RAMPS TO THE SIDE

OR BACK OF BUILDINGS ARE BIGOTED ABLEISTS. PERIOD.

Wheelchair ramps are an abomination.

They ruin the façade.

Fire escapes.

So sculptural, they enhance the façade.

If the same architect makes both of these statements, they hate disabled people.

Only ableists reject access ramps.

BARELY 25% OF NEW YORK’S ESSENTIAL SUBWAY TRAINS

ARE ACCESSED BY ELEVATORS – FIX THIS MAYOR MAMDANI

The MTA's 2025-2029 Capital Plan commits nearly $7.1 billion to station accessibility.

This phase of the plan will make 60 additional stations newly ADA-accessible while modernizing dozens of older elevators.

Long overdue.

The MTA is not under the New York mayor’s office, but its high profile progressive Mayor Mamdani MUST ensure this work does not fall behind.

PEDESTRIAN MOBILITY IS THE FUTURE

MORE THAN 1/3 OF AMERICANS CANNOT/DO NOT DRIVE

Bicycle delivery bike parking lot at 11th Street and 1st Avenue in the Lower East Side.

Each of the hundreds of bikes takes a delivery vehicle off the street and reduces pollution and congestion.

The more we emphasize multimodal mobility, the more we can design wide sidewalks to accommodate wheelchair users and other people with disabilities.

The more we reduce car dependency, the more critical mass we’ll have for train, bus and gondola transportation that is fully accessible and inclusive to all.

FAULTY CURB RAMPS ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE

THEY ARE ESSENTIAL TO INCLUSIVE MOBILITY WITH DIGNITY

Too much patchwork, narrow & dangerous curb ramp in one of the busiest places in Manhattan.

E. Union Square & E. 16 St. — next to the Union Square subway station, the 4th busiest in all of New York.

Mayor Mamdani must make wheelchair access a priority.

PEDESTRIAN MOBILITY MUST BE MAINTAINED

DURING SIDEWALK REPAIRS AND BUILDING CONSTRUCTION

This is a great way to safely maintain wheelchair accessible pedestrian mobility when the sidewalk is closed.

New York uses these all the time, but they are virtually nonexistent in Miami.

PROUD TO HAVE CREATED MORE THAN 5,000 BLOG POSTS

MOST ADDRESS HOW TO CREATE A BETTER BUILT ENVIRONMENT FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES WHILE UPLIFTING URBAN QUALITY OF LIFE FOR ALL

In the past decade and a half, I have created 5,000+ original posts for my blog – “Urban Travel, Sustainability & Accessibility.”

 

I have shared travel images from nearly 50 major cities, where I have worked to increase awareness of Universal Design and Inclusive Mobility.

 

While I have certainly posted on typical resiliency, sustainability and green building techniques – I define sustainability primarily as wheelchair access.

 

Because making something accessible from the start creates a home, office, school, park, store, etc. – the most flexible, adaptable and cost effective facility possible.

 

My posts have totaled well more than 1.3 million words.

 

That’s equal to the word count in 20 non-fiction books.

 

All of my content is posted free, virtually always with my own images – drawn from an  archive of 40,000+ fine art photographs, some of which have been featured at major galleries.

 

My blog has drawn more than 4 million unique visitors, starting with a few dozen per day and now building to well more than 30,000 each day.

 

That number rivals the average daily paid digital circulation of most major newspapers, including my hometown Miami Herald.

 

 

IS SEGREGATION EVER A GOOD THING? THE ANSWER IS NO

DISABLED AND NON DISABLED PATRONS SHOULD SHARE THE SAME MAINSTREAMED, INCLUSIVE ENTRANCE TO A MUSEUM

Reflection in twin pools/fountains in front of The Metropolitan Museum of Art along Fifth Avenue.

MET has a ground level wheelchair accessible entrance.

But wish it would stop using the stairs as a segregated entrance.

TRUE, DURABLE ACCESSIBILITY IS NOT A CHECK MARK

IT IS BORN OF INPUT FROM END USERS

I hate the use of this limited access lift at Temple of Dendur.

Does the Metropolitan Museum of Art not work with wheelchair users when designing?

This cavernous room could accommodate a simple ramp.

Lifts break down all the time.

Lifts are an example of disability compliance by checkmark.

A device meets minimum standards & that’s all the facility cares about.

Ableists could care less than lifts require a key that always goes missing and assistance that robs wheelchair users of dignity & independence.

REFUSING TO DESIGN CITIES FOR ALL IS NOT HEALTHY

IT IS TOXIC ABLEISM

Many ableists think now that we have home delivery of food, medicine, clothes, etc. — there is no need to make the built environment wheelchair accessible.

But isolation prevents chance encounters/diverse experiences that maintain mental health.

Only 25 percent of MTA subway stations are accessible.

Adding broken down lifts and people with disabilities are denied chance encounters and societal immersions that other commuters enjoy.

PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES WANT BUILDING ACCESS

THAT IS DURABLE, RELIABLE AND SIMPLE

THE MORE GADGETS, THE MORE LIKELY THE DEVICE WILL FAIL

NEVER trust an architect that wants to create wheelchair access via a complex contraption.

Bells & whistles feed ego.

They also are high maintenance, cost prohibitive & prone to fail.

A simple, durable ramp works 95% of the time. 

This ramp provides access within historic St. Patrick's Cathedral in Midtown Manhattan.

THE HIGH LINE NYC GETS THUMBS UP FOR WHEELCHAIR ACCESS

PATH OF TRAVEL IS LEVEL, GENTLY GRADED, UNOBSTRUCTED & OVERALL OUTSTANDING & RAMPED/ELEVATOR ACCESS IS GOOD

The High Line has five public elevators for barrier-free access.

This one is at 14th Street and 10th Avenue.

At any given time, at least one elevator is out of service.

Check https://thehighline.org/elevator-status

“THAT SILLY WHEELCHAIR USER IS PLAYING IN THE STREET/BIKE LANE”

NO, THEY ARE THERE BECAUSE THE SIDEWALK IS NOT SAFE

99 times out of 100, when a wheelchair user takes the bike lane instead of the sidewalk—risking injury from cyclists/adjacent traffic—

the sidewalk is buckled, blocked or otherwise obstructed.

LES— Chrystie & Stanton. 

Sure hope NYC Mayor Mamdani's campaign to go to bat for the marginalized includes  millions of disabled constituents.

CITY OF MIAMI COMMITS TO KEEPING SIDEWALKS PROTECTED AND OPEN DURING CONSTRUCTION

NO MORE CLOSED SIDEWALKS FORCING WHEELCHAIR USERS AND ALL PEDESTRIANS TO UNNECESSARILY CROSS DANGEROUS TRAFFIC

“…the City Commission approved our legislation requiring overhead pedestrian protection instead of simply closing sidewalks during construction.

Thank you to my colleagues who co-sponsored this important safety and quality-of-life initiative.” -- Miami City Commissioner Damian Pardo.

Kudos to Commissioner Damián Pardo and fellow Miami City Commissioners for approving this.

It is a crucial element of mobility for people with disabilities. 

I was proud to discuss this with Commissioner Pardo during a Miami DDA downtown block walk, to offer Universal Design insights to Alexandra Alexieva and to speak about the economic benefits of a walkable city in front of Mayor Eileen Higgins and the Commission at the first reading of this legislation.

I stand with this leadership to convince Miami-Dade County to adopt similar legislation to prevent the dangers of closed sidewalks on County streets.