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 Borough President of The Bronx, I rigorously championed the fight to protect the civil rights of all New Yorkers, including people with disabilities. As my Administration rebuilt a burned-out borough, I always focused on exceeding the minimum level of required ADA compliance in new construction.

My commitment to disability rights is exemplified by my highly public 1996 stand against Governor George Pataki's attempts to cut to state-funded special education schools, including St. Joseph's School for the Deaf, the New York Institute for Special Education, and the Lavelle School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. When tough financial times hit our state, I stood strong for disability rights, and I will continue to do so as Mayor.
 

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

I was Bronx Borough President for almost fifteen years, during which an historic urban revitalization occurred-and as every construction project began, I sounded a reminder that our public facilities must serve all New Yorkers, including, of course, those with disabilities.

One example of my close attention to accessibility issues is the massive renovation project my Administration completed on the Mosholu Library in 2001. A new elevator, entry ramp, and other ADA-compliant structural features were added. But I understand that implementation of disability-oriented programs means more than building cut-outs in sidewalks. By making the Mosholu Library accessible to people with disabilities, we opened to New Yorkers with disabilities a world of books, internet, and public spaces that may have otherwise not been available to them.
 

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

The Americans with Disabilities Act remains a milestone piece of legislation in the United States' Civil Rights history. As Mayor, I will continue to make all programs and city services disabled-accessible. My goal will always be to exceed the minimum ADA standard by working closely with the disabled community to ensure that New Yorkers are not shut out of essential city programs and services.
 

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; sign language interpreters for people who are deaf; as well as ensuring that locations are accessible (including bathroom facilities) to people who use mobility aids, like wheelchairs and walkers.

I will try to push to make all events that I attend or sponsor accessible to people with disabilities. I will always make a good faith effort to request that organizers provide alternative listening systems, literature, interpreters, etc.
 

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

1. ...in your personal life?

   My mother currently lives with a disability; she recently suffered a stroke.
    
   

2. ...in the workplace?

   As Bronx Borough President, I regularly met with my active Disabilities Council to discuss and resolve employment, education, housing, and transportation issues facing all disabled people living in The Bronx.
    
   

3. ...what special accommodations do you believe/think are in use in the workplace?

   Modern technology allows for never-before imagined methods of creating accessibility. As Mayor, I would encourage development and implementation of new technologies such as touch screens or voice recognition software across all departments in City Hall and throughout the City’s services infrastructure.
    
   

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

As Mayor, I will serve all New Yorkers, regardless of race, color, creed, sexuality, or disability. The doors of City Hall will be as wide open to disabled New Yorkers as they will be to any other resident of this City.
 

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

   I believe that the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities serves as an important liaison between the City of New York and people with disabilities. As Mayor, I would appoint a strong disability rights champion to assist New York's diverse disabled population, and make clear that that person plays a key and valued role in my administration.
    
   

2. Will have regular office agenda meetings on these issues?

   Yes.
    
   

Neither Mayor Bloomberg nor his predecessor have ever met with the leadership of disability community, although they have met with other communities. What would you do to have more direct contact with our community?

Yes, I would have a more interactive relationship with leaders of the disability community. I demonstrated in my almost fifteen years as Borough President my commitment to active involvement in disability issues. I will continue to keep ADA compliance and disability rights firmly planted in the ongoing dialogue about civil rights in New York City.
 

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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)?

New York City has existing property tax exemptions for qualified disabled homeowners, but we can do more to ease the affordability crunch disabled New Yorkers currently feel.

I support extending SCRIE benefits to low-income disabled persons. Housing in New York City is becoming much less affordable, especially for people on fixed incomes. Expanding programs like SCRIE, adapted to address the needs of low-income disabled New Yorkers, is something I wholeheartedly support.
 

What have you done/accomplished in regard to extension of SCRIE or similar programs?

In addition to testifying at City Council and State hearings in support of extending the SCRIE program to cover Disabled persons of limited means, I worked to increase SCRIE eligibility limits by proposing State legislation, sponsored by Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan, to automatically index income eligibility limits to the cost of living. I also proposed State legislation, sponsored by Assemblywoman Ann Margaret Carrozza, to apply the SCRIE program to water and sewer rates to further reduce costs to eligible seniors. In addition, both bills also apply to the Senior Citizens Homeowners Exemption (SCHE).

What alternative programs will you propose to allow persons with disabilities to stay in their own homes/apartments? Perhaps a dedicated housing trust fund should be established for persons with disabilities? Would you provide a data base of available accessible housing?

As Mayor, I would instruct MOPD and HPD to work towards creating a joint database of accessible housing. Accessible housing does not end at elevators and ramps. Ensuring the existence of disabled-accessible public transportation and commercial services in one's neighborhood are integral parts of finding accessible housing. Hence, I would instruct MOPD and HPD to work together to catalogue these types of accessible services, creating neighborhood accessibility rankings. These statistics would help disabled New Yorkers decide what neighborhood would best suit their individual needs.
 

The City Human Rights Law currently permits civil penalties to be assessed against discriminators to vindicate the public interest, but these penalties are seldom if ever assessed against housing providers who have failed to make reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities. Will you commit to imposing such penalties so as to create a greater incentive for housing providers to comply with the law?

Yes.
 

New York City is in the process of adopting a new building code:

1. how would you advocate for the strongest possible access provisions?

   New York's new building codes, a combination of the International Building Code (IBC) and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards, will upgrade our City's codes and reinforce them as among the safest in the United States. I would, as Mayor, work with the IBC and the NFPA to ensure that the final code adopted by New York City will have the most up-to-date disability access provisions.
    
   

2. 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?

   Again, the IBC and NFPA combined codes are some of the strongest in the Nation. I would be confident that as Mayor, I could trust the new building code to include emergency evacuation provisions for people with disabilities. To be sure, I would instruct MOPD to review the codes and consult with HPD, OEM, NYPD, FDNY, IBC, and NFPA to shore up any weak spots.
    
   

3. What would you do to ensure that "Visitability" is enacted in New York City? Visitability = 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.

   Building new homes that comply with basic standards of visitability makes good sense-from low-placed light switches to a minimum half-bath on the first floor, visitability follows common sense. As Mayor, I would wholeheartedly support the construction of buildings that met visitability standards.
    
   

Will you develop new and renovated housing for people with disabilities?

Yes.
 

What efforts are you willing to commit to assuring that people with disabilities do not become homeless - are able to stay in their own apartments with adequate supports?

Affordable housing is a right of all New Yorkers, disabled or otherwise. I support the notion of "age in place." People should feel comfortable knowing that the houses in which they live will continue to be accessible and affordable, regardless of if/when disabilities develop later in life.
 

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What is your position on efforts to elevate the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD) to a commissioner level agency? How would you ensure that city departments/agencies coordinate through MOPD?

I believe that New York City needs to better serve the needs of the disabled community. As Mayor, I would keep disability rights issues on the forefront of the agenda-as I did when I was Bronx Borough President for almost fifteen years. I would consider elevating MOPD to a commissioner level agency.
 

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

MOPD is responsible for a very specific and underserved constituency, so it's critical that when MOPD creates a system or program, its guidelines are followed by all other City agencies. I would meet with a disability council on issues pressing to that community. These sessions would set the agenda for MOPD and make sure that my office deals with issues timely and critical to New York City.
 

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?

As Mayor, I would hold MOPD to the same rigorous standards of accountability as I would any other office in City Hall.
 

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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?

As Mayor, I would order the DOT to undertake a review and inventory of all curb cuts to establish a database of where capital improvements are most necessary. Since no such inventory exists under this current Mayor, creating one would be my first step in addressing this issue.
 

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

Today's retrofitting technology allows for useful additions to storefronts without the need to drastically alter the original design. As Mayor, I would accept no excuse from business owners seeking to shirk their ADA compliance responsibilities.
 

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

We preserve landmark buildings for their cultural, historical, or artistic significance. Excluding any New Yorker from visiting these sites defeats the whole purpose of preservation. Modern technology negates any excuse one would have for not retrofitting existing landmarks.
 

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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. 38 Council sponsors, 32 civil rights and allied organizations, and three hearings should be enough to get the job done, but the Mayor opposes 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?

Yes. I have always been a strong champion of protecting the civil rights of all New Yorkers.
 

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 will, as I continually did as Borough President of the Bronx.
 

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In the Olmstead decision, the Supreme Court ruled that severely disabled persons have the right to live in the community in the "least restrictive environment," and not be warehoused in nursing homes. In spite of the fact that personal care services are often more cost effective, and severely disabled persons are often happier and live longer in their own homes, there continues to be a nursing home bias in government. What would you do to insure that consumers have the opportunity to remain in the community if they so desire?

As I stated in the answer to Question #14, I support the notion of "age in place." Elderly disabled New Yorkers will be able to remain in their own homes if we subsidize their home care. As Mayor, I would work to secure federal Medicaid funding to help defray the rising costs of at-home nursing, hence negating the need to relocate senior citizens to nursing homes.
 

The Consumer-Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP): Enables self-directing senior citizens and younger disabled persons (or their surrogates) receiving home care under Medicaid to recruit, hire, train, supervise and (if necessary) discharge their workers, with the home care agency servicing as a "fiscal conduit" to pay salaries, taxes and benefits based on information provided by the consumer and worker. Although CDPAP is a product of the disability rights movement, HRA no longer allows consumers to serve on the Boards of provider agencies and has encouraged agencies to move away from the "self-directing" model to the more traditional "medical" model. Currently only about 1,500 consumers and their surrogates are enrolled in CDPAP. Would you, as Mayor, seek to reverse that policy and strengthen and expand CDPAP? Please describe strategy and time frame for such policy change.

Yes, I would look to reverse this trend. The CDPAP ensures that home care workers are held accountable to the people who depend on them. Excluding disabled New Yorkers from advisory boards is a step backwards away from the gains disability activists have made over the past few generations. As Mayor, I will to expand the CDPAP and ensure that disabled New Yorkers are given access to positions of civic leadership.
 

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Children with disabilities often attend schools with segregated placements, insufficient supports to function in a regular classroom, or travel in poorly maintained buses to attend schools far from their homes because their neighborhood school is inaccessible, cannot or will not provide an appropriate education. Months have passed before an Individual Education Plan (IEP) is developed or implemented. What will you specifically direct the Chancellor to do to assure that the policies of the Department of Education are more user friendly to children with disabilities and their parents? Provide time frame.

I presented an education reform plan that aims to increase the number of New York City public high school graduates by 50,000 over the next four years, and raise our City's on-time graduation rate to the national average over eight years. An integral component of this plan is a centralized tracking system that would identify children that needed extra help whether for behavioral or disability reasons. This system would allow school administrators to better recognize children in need of IEPs, hence shortening the turnaround time between initiation of the process and implementation of the IEP. I would direct my Chancellor to immediately begin utilizing the centralized tracking system to identify in-need students, and to begin developing IEPs as quickly as possible.
 

As a result of cutbacks in Federal funding, programs serving students with disabilities in the CUNY system are being eliminated, including the home-bound program at Queensborough Community College. These students often find that CUNY fails to provide mandated supports. What would you do as Mayor to assure that disabled students in the CUNY system have the required services to assure their academic success?

Higher education is essential to ensuring that all New Yorkers have access to the many opportunities that exist in our great City. Students with disabilities must have access to classes, professors, and essential support services at CUNY campuses—and that starts with ensuring that those programs are properly funded. As Mayor, I would extend the promise of comparable education to home-bound program students and other CUNY students who utilize disability services on City campuses by fighting Republicans in Albany and Washington, D.C. to ensure those programs are properly funded.
 

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