Please see the email from Christopher Keller below and follow the link to register your support for accessible cabs in New York City. Shame on Michael Bloomberg!
SK
Sent from my iPhone
Begin forwarded message:
From: Christoph Keller <stieglitz101@gmail.com>
Date: October 24, 2011 10:09:43 PM EDT
To: <stieglitz101@gmail.com>
Subject: from Christoph: Please Vote: Offensive remarks won't make accessible transportation a reality
Dear Friends,
Something outrageous is going in the City of New York – and I hope it doesn't only concern "people in wheelchairs." Please read the below email, go to the Daily News article and VOTE (you'll find the survey a third down in the DN article – and it's only
ONE question).
I have to say the Mayor's remarks shook me to the core.
Please pass it on.
all best,
Christoph
Dear Friend,
New York City’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg has recently made incredibly offensive remarks directed at wheelchair users who want greater access to the City’s yellow taxi fleet.
Bloomberg stated that “it’s too dangerous” for wheelchair users to hail a cab in NYC and that most drivers would “pretend they didn’t see them”. He also said wheelchair users “sit too far from the driver to establish a dialogue” and therefore
“they would not tip well”.
It’s time to call out the offensive remarks of Bloomberg by showing your support for a fully-accessible NYC taxi fleet. Sadly, only 231 of the City’s 13,000 taxis are accessible to wheelchair users. The New York Daily News is taking an online
poll regarding the desirability of accessible taxis.
Click Here To Take The Survey
United Spinal has advocated for accessible taxis in NYC for many years. But this fight reaches far beyond the City's front lines. If NYC creates an equitable system of accessible public transportation then other cities both small and large
will follow.
You need not be a City resident to take the survey as it affects our entire community. So please let your voice be heard by taking this important survey that only takes a few seconds to complete.
Regards and thanks for your support,
Ziggi Landsman
VP of Online Relations
United Spinal Association
zlandsman@unitedspinal.org
Background reading on this issue:
http://www.spinalcord.org/push-for-cab-access-grows/
http://www.spinalcord.org/key-to-hailing-a-cab-in-nyc-tip-well-and-hide-your-wheelchair/
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United Spinal Association
75-20 Astoria Blvd, Jackson Heights, NY, 11370
718-803-3782 –
Planet of the Blind 
In the interests of accuracy, Bloomberg didn’t actually say as the email from Christoph of United Spinal Association relates, “He also said wheelchair users ‘sit too far from the driver to establish a dialogue’ and therefore ‘they would not tip well’.”
Bloomberg said, according to the Daily News (brackets added by me), “A lot of drivers say the passengers [meaning all passengers] sit too far away [in wheelchair accessible cabs] and so they can’t have a good dialogue and they get lower tips.” (I.e. he’s relaying the feelings of the drivers rather than himself in this case.)
Bravo for the Justice Department in its support of the lawsuit. Now, it needs to go to trial so that all viewpoints can be aired and weighed. The cab drivers have obviously got the ear of this mayor.
He also said:
“You just can’t take a wheelchair out into the street and try and hail a cab.”
“What happens, apparently is, No. 1, it’s more expensive. No. 2, it’s heavier, so it uses more gas and there’s more pollution and it’s more expensive to run. No. 3, if you stay on the seat, you really have to get up and reach way over to pay the driver, and that’s difficult for people who aren’t as mobile but still would be better with wheelchairs.”
“Fewer people may use cabs because the suspension is worse, and I think you’re going to see suits about people getting up, trying to get to the front, across the divide. You know there’s so much more space between the backseat and the divider, you’re going to have people getting hurt.”
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2011/10/22/2011-10-22_mikes_bumpy_ride.html#ixzz1bqQ6cOTz
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