Category: Uncategorized

I should be honest here and say that I was offered the position of Commissioner of the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities by former NY Mayor Rudy Giuliani. That was a long time ago. I declined the offer. The politics of disability access vs. business interests in NYC is a difficult and often terrible process. Now I have received the following email from my friend and fellow advocate, Christoph Keller, which I share in its entirety:

COME AND SPREAD THE WORD!

spread the word about this meeting.  note – you have to RSVP to be admitted.

 

I would like you to know about this proposed meeting on May 3. After the official unveiling of the new Nissan NV 200–The Taxi of Tomorrow, this meeting has been organized by the acting Commissioner of the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities, Jason Mischel. The original unveiling was planned a few days before the opening of the International Auto Show. There was a big announcement at the NV 200 would have a wheelchair accessible model. Not a single disabled person was invited to the unveiling. Four people from The Taxis for All Campaign were there and asks to be admitted. We were told “no”. I think that that was a tactical error on the part of Nissan. As the press left Nissan’s event, many of them stopped to speak with us and we wound up getting a significant amount of press coverage. The fact is that in order to make the NV 200 wheelchair accessible, the passenger seat in the cab must be folded down and moved forward in order to make room for the wheelchair which will enter from the rear. It has been decided that one additional passenger can sit on the other side of the partition next to the driver. There will no longer be room for three passengers as in every other taxi. After the conversion, the cost of this vehicle will be the same as any other converted minivans that will hold three passengers and a wheelchair user. I know that Jason Mischel is very enthusiastic in his support of this plan. We had a rather lengthy discussion about this. Meanwhile, this is an opportunity for our voices to be heard– or at least spoken to both the TLC and Nissan. I hope that the results of this meeting make it to the mainstream press. I hope that you will be able to attend.

 

Sincerely, Ronnie

 If you know anyone else who might be interested in attending this meeting, please do give them this information

Ronnie Ellen Raymond
New York, New York  

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Mischel, Jason <JMischel@cityhall.nyc.gov>
Date: Fri, Apr 20, 2012 at 4:13 PM
Subject: please post (revised)
To: EM Prentiss <prentissem@gmail.com>, marvinwssrmn@aol.com, Ronnie Ellen Raymond <rone327@gmail.com>, Jean Ryan <pansies007@gmail.com>

On Thursday May 3, 2012 at 9:30 AM at Lighthouse International, the NYC Mayor’s Office for People With Disabilities and the Taxi & Limousine Commission will be hosting a presentation by Nissan and its wheelchair accessibility partner, The Braun Corporation, regarding the wheelchair accessible version of the Nissan NV200 that will be available for use as a NYC taxi in October 2013. 

 

The presentation will take place on the 2^nd floor of Lighthouse International, 111 E. 59^th Street between Park Ave. and Lexington Ave., NYC, and will be accessible by four (4) working elevators.

 

In order to attend this event, you must RSVP to Inat German by no later than 12pm on Wednesday May 2, 2012 at the Mayor’s Office for People With Disabilities by the following:

 

email at igerman@cityhall.nyc.gov

phone at 212-788-6729

TTY at 212-788-2838

Fax at 212-341-9843

 

Please note that this is a closed event, and only those who have RSVP-d will be admitted.  Thank you.

 

J

 

 

 

From: Mischel, Jason 
Sent: Friday, April 20, 2012 3:28 PM
To: 'dnnyc@yahoogroups.com'
Cc: 'EM Prentiss'; 'marvinwssrmn@aol.com'; 'Ronnie Ellen Raymond'; 'Jean Ryan'
Subject: please post

 

On Thursday May 3, 2012 at 9:30 AM at Lighthouse International, the NYC Mayor’s Office for People With Disabilities and the Taxi & Limousine Commission will be hosting a presentation by Nissan and its wheelchair accessibility partner, The Braun Corporation, regarding the wheelchair accessible version of the Nissan NV200 that will be available for use as a NYC taxi in October 2013. 

 

The presentation will take place on the 2^nd floor of Lighthouse International, 110 E. 59^th Street between Park Ave. and Lexington Ave., NYC, and will be accessible by four (4) working elevators.

 

In order to attend this event, you must RSVP to Inat German by no later than 12pm on Wednesday May 2, 2012 at the Mayor’s Office for People With Disabilities by the following:

 

email at igerman@cityhall.nyc.gov

phone at 212-788-6729

TTY at 212-788-2838

Fax at 212-341-9843

 

Please note that this is a closed event, and only those who have RSVP-d will be admitted.  Thank you.

 

J

 

 

Jason R. Mischel

Acting Commissioner/General Counsel

Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities

100 Gold Street, 2nd Floor

New York, NY 10038

 

Tel:      212.788.0273

Main:   212.788.2830

TTY:    212.788.2838

Fax:     212.341.9843

Email:  Jmischel@cityhall.nyc.gov

URL:    www.nyc.gov/mopd

 

 

Follow MOPD on Facebook and Twitter:

  

 

 P please do not print this e-mail unless necessary

 

Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail communication and any attachments may contain confidential and privileged information for the use of the designated recipients named above. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this communication in error and that any review, disclosure, dissemination, distribution or copying of it or its contents is prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify me immediately by replying to this message and deleting it from your computer. Thank you. 

 

 

– 
Ronnie Ellen Raymond
New York, New York  

– 
Christoph

Never was no white man had the blues, so Leadbelly said,

Til Larkin came along–Larkin, like a fungus, invisible–

He stained margin after margin.

Sweet as iodine, dysmorphic,

I see my coffin coming

Lordy Lord in my back door…

If you're a New York Mets fan, this terrific piece by Michael Trager will resonate:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/sports/baseball/mets-at-50-the-good-the-bad-but-mostly-the-ugly.html?src=me&ref=sports

Stephen Kuusisto
Director
The Renee Crown University Honors Program
University Professor
Syracuse University

Did the man know what “safe” meant? He had to concede he hadn’t known until Corky came into his life. Before meeting her he’d been dancing on a weak floor. Really, the floor of his world had been like the planks in an old farmhouse. As a teenager, with his sighted friends, he’d break into abandoned houses and the boys would walk timidly over sagging boards. They might fall into the dark cellar with the next step or the next. He hadn’t been afraid. It was just blindness extended. If you live in the absence of safety you can’t magnify it.

Walking with Corky he saw he was finally guaranteed good steps. He’d never known them before. His landscape would never be the same. He saw that he would never be the same on the inside. He had a dog soul now. He and Miss Corky were twins. He understood this was real. He knew something of the ancient man who first knew how life could be more secure, more eventful, more of hope, just because of the dog.

This is my favorite cafe in Helsinki, a place prominent in my childhood. It’s new look is undoubtedly attractive but I must contend with the disappearance of one more confirmatory spot from my early life. That’s of course the way it is. But a thin branch of my boyhood tree has snapped. Miten surrulista!

Hello Friends,

Happy National Poetry Month!

WNMU, Marquette’s local public radio station, records and airs a series of poetry readings this month, and I recorded the opening section from a current book-in-progress. Hope you’ll take a listen!

http://www.wnmufm.org/2012/04/12/poetry-month-2012-andrea-scarpino-41212

Andrea

Stephen Kuusisto
Director
The Renee Crown University
Honors Program
University Professor
Syracuse University

Begin forwarded message:

From: adaohio@aol.com
Date: April 19, 2012 6:48:31 PM EDT
To: ada-ohio@listserve.com, houstoncil@yahoo.com
Subject: [News from ADA-Ohio] Action Alert: Stop the Attack on the ADA
Reply-To: adaohio@aol.com

Action
Alert: Stop the Attack on the ADA!

There
is an attack on the Americans with Disabilities
Act in the 112th Congress. It is time to fight for
your rights. Tell Congress: Stop the Attack on the ADA
Now!

On
March 16, Representative David Schweikert (R-AZ)
introduced H.R. 4200, “To Amend the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990”. On March 26,
Representative Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) introduced H.R.
4256, “The Pool Safety and Accessibility for Everyone
(pool SAFE) Act”.

These
bills will eliminate the balance of powers and will set
prejudicial precedent by weakening the ADA.

The
House Judiciary Subcommittee on The Constitution has
scheduled a hearing to discuss this
legislation.

When:
Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Time:
4:30pm EST

Room:
2141 Rayburn House Office Building

Take
Action:

Come
to DC to fill the room: if you are in the area or are
able to travel to DC for the hearing, please come and
bring your family and friends!

Call
the Subcommittee: contact Majority Leader
Representative Trent Frank (R-AZ) through the
Subcommittee office (202-225-2825) and through his DC
business office (202-225-4576) and tell him to stop
supporting these bills!

Call
your representative: If your representative is a
co-sponsor on either of these bills call them
today
and tell them to remove their name as a co-sponsor!
Find out if your representative is a co-sponsor by
using the Library of Congress
website.

Contact
your representative online: find the representative for
your state and click on their contact form to submit
your letter. In your letter, identify yourself as a
constituent and urge your senator / representative to
“Please stop supporting H.R. 4200 or H.R. 4256. These
bills would start the destruction of the ADA as we
know it!”.

Then,
get your family, friends, co-workers, and other
community members to act as well. Follow us on Twitter
and Facebook for updates!

For
further information, contact Dara Baldwin, NCIL Policy
Analyst, at 202-207-0334 or dara@ncil.org.

http://www.lohud.com/article/20120419/NEWS02/304180105/Leake-Watts-boy-s-death-can-t-breathe-boy-shouts-after-staffers-piled-onto-him-witness-says?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFrontpage

Stephen Kuusisto
Director
The Renee Crown University Honors Program
University Professor
Syracuse University

Fear Itself, an Unnecessary Barrier to Hiring Veterans with Disabilities

By Bill Lawson, National President, Paralyzed Veterans of America

Franklin Delano Roosevelt famously rallied America in very tough times by stating that the “only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Eighty years later, fear itself is getting in the way of some employers hiring Veterans with disabilities; fears that are perhaps understandable, but upon closer examination, unfounded. As I write this blog, I am traveling across our nation to raise awareness of the issues facing paralyzed Veterans and their families during Paralyzed Veterans of America Awareness Month. From my hometown of Woodward, OK, to Washington, D.C., one of the biggest challenges facing all Veterans…

Visit Disability.gov for more employment-related resources.

It’s morning in your head. Is it the same morning outside? The same for the robin? The stray dog? How about the refugee? Alright, I’m teasing. Leave phenomenology aside. Let’s say the issue–“morning ness” has to do, not with witnessing, but with capacity–the places you’ve made for the new day in your understanding. The early light is not lonely, nor does it emanate from angels, nor is it strictly about angstrom units. Inside you it’s a Rococo picture frame of competing interests, a design for optimism or joyless finger painting. Part of memory, part a direction from someone off stage, who loves you when you think hard.