Property homeowners who didn’t clear snowy sidewalks after two main winter storms in a month confronted a blizzard of criticism Friday from folks with disabilities who had been then marooned at dwelling.
At a Metropolis Council committee listening to, New Yorkers with restricted mobility pointed to snow-clearing lapses from neighbors and the town in creating sufficient area for wheelchairs on sidewalks and at curb cuts, bus stops and bus shelters.
“It is so stressful to be stuck at home and not know when we will freely and safely be able to go where we need to go,” mentioned Jean Ryan, a motorized wheelchair consumer. “We have spent weeks being stuck at home, like COVID time without the disease.”
Ryan, the pinnacle of Disabled in Motion of Metropolitan New York, mentioned she solely was capable of testify in individual after a neighbor in Bay Ridge cleared a path on Thursday.
“Thank you to whomever shoveled three days after the storm instead of four hours,” Ryan mentioned.
Snowy obstacles shrunk how some with disabilities get round following a January winter storm that was adopted by a bitterly chilly, weeks-long stretch of subfreezing temperatures. Then got here the town’s first blizzard in a decade, which dumped greater than 20 inches of snow on the 5 boroughs.
Initially scheduled for Feb. 23, the listening to was initially set to deal with pedestrian and transit accessibility throughout the January storm, which hit the town with greater than 10 inches of snow and led to 19 outdoor deaths. The blizzard pushed it to Friday, when temperatures hit 40 levels, lastly rushing a soften.
Appearing Sanitation Commissioner Javier Lojan testifies at a Council listening to about DSNY efforts to clear snow after two winter storms walloped the town, Feb. 27, 2026. Credit score: Alex Krales/THE CITY
However some folks with disabilities nonetheless opted to testify remotely, citing continued uncertainty over simply how far they might journey earlier than encountering lingering snowy obstacles which might be speculated to be cleared by property homeowners.
Eman Rimawi-Doster, a double amputee who makes use of a walker to get round, testified remotely that she “missed everything this week” on account of being unable to go away her Harlem dwelling.
“Getting to work isn’t just about transportation or workplace accommodations,” mentioned Rimawi-Doster, a senior organizer for incapacity justice with New York Attorneys for the Public Curiosity. “It’s also about making sure streets, sidewalks and curb cuts are cleared for us in every borough.”
Councilmember Shahana Hanif (D-Brooklyn), who chairs the incapacity committee, mentioned that New Yorkers with restricted mobility face “persistent barriers” that solely worsened throughout the twin winter storms.
“For many New Yorkers with disabilities, older adults and families with strollers, the question is not how the streets were plowed,” she mentioned. “It was whether they could leave their homes at all.”
Whereas some advocates praised Metropolis Corridor for clearer pre-blizzard messaging emphasizing that property homeowners should clear areas close to bus stops and carve four-foot-wide sidewalk paths large enough for wheelchairs, Councilmember Gail Brewer (D-Manhattan) mentioned the message has clearly not sunk in sufficient with some.
She cited a sequence restaurant close to her Higher West Facet district workplace that she mentioned “didn’t do anything” to filter out area for pedestrians.
“People were stumbling over their mess and then the crosswalk was a mess,” Brewer mentioned.
Javier Lojan, the appearing Division of Sanitation commissioner, mentioned greater than 4,500 summonses had been issued to property homeowners for not clearing sidewalks, hearth hydrants, unsheltered bus stops and crosswalks inside hours of the tip of the January storm.
Sanitation has to date issued greater than 600 summonses for the most recent winter blast, when the division pressed 2,600 employees, 700 salt-spreaders, 2,200 plows and 1,500 emergency snow shovelers into service.
“Together, these two storms demonstrated what we already knew — that no two storms are alike,” Lojan mentioned. “And that our response must be tailored to certain conditions.”
He added that the town would like to not challenge violations for property homeowners that don’t maintain up their snow-clearing necessities.
“That might be necessary in certain situations where there’s certain chronic property owners [who are] unresponsive,” Lojan mentioned.
However Jonathan Hannon, whose mobility is restricted by genetic problems often called Ehlers-Danlos syndromes, countered that the town must do extra enforcement.
“The Department of Sanitation needs to do more for people with disabilities … it’s just not acceptable,” he mentioned.
Joseph Rappaport, government director of Brooklyn Middle for Independence of the Disabled, mentioned there’s a “disconnect” on who clears what.
“You can point fingers at the property owners,” he mentioned. “But even if the property owner does their job, the Department of Sanitation often does not.”
Associated
