While in public office/prior to this campaign, what have you accomplished in regard to advancing disability rights? This can include work towards accessible housing, transportation, employment, health care, education, and including people with disabilities in the political process?

As City Council Speaker Gifford Miller’s Chief of Staff, I have spent the past seven years working to advance civil rights in our city. In particular, I have worked with the 504 Democratic Club to register disabled New Yorkers in public hospitals to vote, worked with parents of disabled children in our public schools, successfully changed Access-A-Ride’s policy of refusing to pick up certain Roosevelt Island residents, and helped individual disabled constituents access city services.
 

What oversight have you performed regarding implementation of programs/legislation you have passed (in first term or in previous offices)?

N/A
 

What implementation/strategy do you have for your future programs and legislation to help constituents with disabilities?

I plan to work with my colleagues in government to ensure that the City Council is pursuing a progressive legislative agenda that advances the causes of the disabled community.
 

Will you commit to only attend or sponsor events that are accessible to people with disabilities? NOTE: This includes providing written materials in alternate formats for people with low vision, providing assistive listening systems for people who are hard-of-hearing, and sign language interpreters for people who are deaf, as well as ensuring that locations are accessible to people who use mobility aids, like wheelchairs and walkers.

I pledge to work closely with the disabled community to ensure that all reasonable accommodations are made, appropriate to each and every event, and will personally only host events in spaces that are accessible.
 

What personal and professional experience have you had with people with disabilities?

1. ...in your personal life?

2. ...in the workplace?
    
   

I have seen in both my work life and my personal life, that New Yorkers with disabilities have an incredibly difficult time traveling around our city. Using the subway system is practically impossible, the city runs fewer and fewer local buses, and Access-A-Ride’s service causes nightmares. This is an issue that our local elected officials should work to address.
 

What special accommodations do you believe/think are in use in the workplace?

Employers need to make whatever special accommodations are necessary to allow all employees to succeed in the workplace.
 

How do you propose to implement your active involvement and/or availability to the disability community?

I will regularly attend and sponsor events and meetings for and with the disabled community. As a Councilmember, I will facilitate a dialogue with the disabled community and my door will always be open to their concerns.
 

1. Will there be a specific person in your office responsible to this community?

   Yes.
    
   

2. Will have regular office agenda items and meetings on disabled community issues?

   Yes.
    
   

Do you/or will you, have an active Disability Advisory Committee? Explain its duties, responsibilities and powers.

I would be happy to create a Disability Advisory Committee. I would envision meeting with that committee on a regular basis to solicit ideas and feedback and to discuss strategic ways to advance a progressive legislative agenda within the City Council.
 

How will you work closely with the disability community to assure passage of vitally needed legislation through the City Council? What is your strategy during your first term?

In addition to working with the 504 Democratic Club, please see my ideas above regarding a Disability Advisory Committee.
 

What is your position on the development of supported apartments/homes and retirement homes for the mentally disabled in your borough? Please also explain same for physically disabled. What strategies will you utilize?

The city must focus resources on developing new facilities for our mentally and physically disabled. HPD should consider a new program to sell city owned land to be developed for that purpose.
 

What is your position on extending the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE) to low-income, eligible persons with disabilities under the age of 62 on the same basis and income level (currently the income cap for seniors is $24,000, but for persons with disabilities it has been set at $17,000)?

I wholeheartedly support efforts to extend SCRIE to low-income eligible persons with disabilities.
 

How will you develop realistic income levels for individuals and couples with disabilities to avail themselves of the SCRIE provisions?

I believe that the income levels should be the same for both seniors and people living with disabilities.
 

What alternative programs will you propose to allow persons with disabilities to stay in their own homes/apartments? (i.e. protection from rent increases or undue eviction (harassment) and make funds available to make appropriate accommodations in present living environment). Another example: perhaps a dedicated housing trust fund should be established for making those housing accommodations. If so, how would you fund same?

Throughout my career in public service, I have advocated on behalf of rent regulated and Mitchell Lama tenants. I organized busloads of tenants to travel to Albany and lobby our state elected officials on behalf of strengthening rent laws and repealing the Urstadt Law. I have testified repeatedly before the Rent Guidelines Board on behalf of lower rents for tenants.

In order to protect disabled persons from being priced out of their homes, we must push Albany for home rule on housing legislation. The City Council, not legislators from upstate, should have the power to protect disabled residents in need of affordable housing.

As a City Councilmember, I would make the protection of tenants – particularly disabled tenants – a top priority in my constituent service operation. Many times, when a landlord harasses a tenant, a local elected official can step in to assist the tenant individually. I have helped many such tenants while working for the City Council and will continue to do so as a member of the City Council.

I would welcome the opportunity to discuss the idea of a dedicated housing trust fund with the disabled community.
 

New York City is in the process of adopting a new building code. How would you advocate for the strongest possible access provisions?

I would work closely with the disabled community, the Administration, and with my colleagues in the City Council to ensure that the new building code promotes accessibility by building in threshold requirements. Its is important for the new building code to have accessibility-specific requirements for all new buildings and major renovations.
 

1. Emergency evacuation for people with disabilities: what would you do to ensure that provisions are put in place to improve survival rates of people with disabilities in the event of fire, attack, blackout, or other emergency situation?

   All new buildings should be fully ADA compliant and accessible to disabled persons, including provisions for emergency situations. I would work towards that goal in conjunction with advocates for the disabled community.
    
   

2. What would you do to ensure that "Visitability" is enacted in New York City? Visitability is the movement towards establishing guidelines providing that newly constructed multi-family dwellings have basic accessible/adaptable features that permit friends and family with disabilities to visit, and for residents to "age in place," without having to move out when age and/or disability set in.

   I would actively collaborate with the leaders of the disabled community to ensure that all new buildings are constructed as to be "visitable."
    
   

Will you support, and what strategy will you utilize, to implement an expansion of affordable wheelchair accessible transportation in NYC, including taxis, livery service, express buses, airport shuttle service, more accessible subway stations, etc.?

As a Council Member, I will continue to work with the 504 Democratic Club to advocate for a fully accessible public transportation system. The City Council should force the TLC to dramatically expand the number accessible taxis in the fleet through conversions and the sale of new medallions, should ensure that ferry service are accessible, and should push the MTA to rehabilitate and convert as many subway stations as possible.
 

1. Efforts to secure a 100% accessible fleet of medallion taxis have been hampered by opposition from Mayor Bloomberg and the taxi industry. Wheelchair accessible taxis are present in many cities as a result of strong support from local Mayors and City Councils. What would you do to assure that all New York City residents, commuters and tourists have access to an important form of public transportation, our medallion taxis and community car services?

   I believe that any new medallions that are sold should be for either disabled accessible or environmentally friendly vehicles, that taxis should be converted when vehicles are traded in, and that the Council should create monetary incentives for the conversion of our existing fleet.
    
   

Access-A-Ride has denied rides to many eligible consumers; cause unnecessarily long trips, causing workers to be late for work and consequently be docked pay and even lose their jobs; routinely leave many consumers stranded at the curb, lying to their clients that a bus is coming and calling consumer a "no-show" when the bus has not shown. Consumers who complain are often subject to retaliation. What would you do to improve the quality of service for those who must use Access-A-Ride?

Access-A-Ride used to refuse to pick-up certain seniors on Roosevelt Island and bring them into Manhattan because DOT claimed that the Island was "Manhattan". By working with a Roosevelt Island resident, I was able to change DOT’s policy. That said, their service is inconsistent and unreliable. More political pressure needs to be applied to improve the quality of service they provide.
 

Do you favor the construction of the Second Avenue Subway?

Yes, I am a strong supporter of the Second Avenue Subway, a project that will have a tremendously positive impact on my district. On the East Side, commuters are forced to take the most crowded mass transit line in the country, the Lexington Avenue line, and a Second Avenue Subway would help to alleviate this chronic overcrowding.

A full-length Second Avenue subway will serve a greater number of disabled residents and is a must. The construction of this new line is an exciting opportunity to make historic improvements in the accessibility of subways and set a new standard, not only in New York but around the world.
 

If so, is this a priority?

The Second Avenue Subway is a top transportation priority of mine.
 

The Local Civil Rights Restoration Act (Intro 22) seeks to protect the vigor and independence of the City’s Human Rights Law against the attacks of an increasingly conservative State and Federal Judiciary. Although there are 38 Council sponsors, 32 civil rights and allied organizations, in favor of this legislation, and three hearings have been held, Mayor Bloomberg continues to oppose the most central aspect of the bill, the need for City Human Rights Law not to be restricted as federal and state civil rights law gets cut back. Would you work to assure its passage? Please describe your strategy.

Yes. I would work with the disabled community and with sponsors to advance civil rights through this legislation and to set an aggressive timetable for its passage.
 

Under the Bloomberg Administration, the Corporation Council intervened on the side of the city of Sacramento when it sought to challenge the Americans with Disabilities Act regarding the requirement to maintain accessible sidewalks. Do you pledge to use your office to affirm or strengthen, rather than weaken, civil rights protections for persons with disabilities?

Yes, I pledge to use my office as a City Councilmember to advance civil rights protections for persons with disabilities.
 

Do you support making sign language interpreters available for Community Board meetings? If so, how would you fund this?

Yes, I support making sign language interpreters available for Community Board meetings through providing for this service in the budget of the Community Boards.
 

Will you appoint disabled persons to local Community Boards?

Yes.
 

How many have you/ or will you appoint to Community Board?

I will encourage persons with disabilities to apply for positions on local Community Boards. As a City Councilmember, I will make every effort to ensure that disabled persons have equal representation on Community Boards and that they are active participants on committees, especially those committees such as Transportation that have a significant voice in issues of concern to the disabled community.
 

Will you support the "requirement" and implement, a Disabled Committee on every Community Board?

I believe that there should be a Disabled Committee on every Community Board.
 

Please Specify: Have you used (or will you use) your discretionary funds to support organizations serving persons with disabilities or service organizations seeking to make their programs accessible to persons with disabilities?

As Speaker Miller’s District Chief of Staff, I have helped secure funding for the Roosevelt Island Disabled Association and the RI Senior Association, both of which provide programs for people with disabilities. I also helped secure capital funds to make Parks Department and New York Public Library facilities ADA compliant.

As a Council Member, I will continue to support groups like these and dedicate a portion of my discretionary funds to support organizations that serve the disabled community.
 

If so, what percentage of your discretionary funds went to such organizations?

N/A
 

Under Mayor Bloomberg, the City settled with the United Spinal Association and agreed to install curb cuts -- Pedestrian ramps, on all corners which presently don’t have one. However, no provision has been made to repair or replace those current ones which are unsafe. How would you ensure that curb cuts—pedestrian ramps—are provided on or repaired on streets that need them? What would you establish as a timetable?

I would urge that a citywide inventory of needed curb cuts is compiled and that a timetable for their installation is set according to such inventory. I would work to see that the Council uses its oversight function to ensure that the curb cuts are completed in adherence with a specified timeline and I would dedicate resources to conducting such a survey in the 5th Council District.
 

What steps do you think NYC should take to encourage business owners to make their establishments more accessible?

The City should work with local business associations to facilitate a dialogue between business owners and the disabled community. As a City Councilmember, I would actively participate in such a dialogue with the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce and with businesses in my district.
 

Do you believe that landmark buildings can be made accessible without losing their historical integrity?

Yes.
 

What is your position on efforts to elevate the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD) to a commissioner level agency or Commission on Disabilities to enable coordination of efforts of agencies? (A one stop shop for information and assistance.) How would you ensure that city departments/agencies coordinate through MOPD?

I support the elevation of MOPD to the level of a Commission on Disabilities. I would work to see that the City Council uses its oversight function to ensure that city departments and agencies coordinate through MOPD.
 

What implementation/authority should MOPD have, and/or how would you ensure that MOPD?

Beyond elevating the office to a commissioner level, the office should be given the appropriate resources to fulfill its mission and given full authority to work with the enforcement agencies to ensure that city businesses are in compliance with the law.
 

Since presumably "this" office is a Mayoral Office, how would you enforce and do oversight regarding the work of the office and be certain of the implementation and its efforts?

If elected to the City Council, I would use the oversight powers of the Council to ensure this office is performing and conducting itself in a way that ensures it is doing everything possible to help people with disabilities.