City of Syracuse v. Disabled People

Posted on September 23, 2010 by

From: Anne
Sent: Friday, September 25, 2009 10:38 AM
To: O’Connor, Pete
Subject: Curb-cuts and sidewalks

 Pete–

 It was a real pleasure taking that walk-around with you this morning.  As a result, I am optimistic about traveling in my wheelchair in the city in a safer, more comfortable manner.

 Thanks,

Anne

 P.S. Please confirm receipt.

 

________________________________________________________________________

Saturday, September 26, 2009 8:23 AM

From: “O’Connor, Pete” <po’connor@ci.syracuse.ny.us>

To: “Anne”

Cc: “Wright, Jeff” <jwright@ci.syracuse.ny.us>

Anne,

I agree it was a nice walk!   I’ll get back to you shortly and start to address the issues ASAP!

Thanks

Pete

______________________________________________________________________

From: O’Connor, Pete <po’connor@ci.syracuse.ny.us>
Subject: RE: Indian Summer
To: “Anne
Date: Monday, October 5, 2009, 1:31 PM

Anne,

Sorry I’ve not gotten back to you yet with a recap of our walk. I will do so by the end of the workday Tuesday. However, I did send a crew up to University and Madison to patch the corner you use the most frequently. Please let me know if this is acceptable for a short term fix?
Thanks

Pete

From: Anne 
Sent: Monday, October 05, 2009 9:12 PM
To: O’Connor, Pete
Subject: Univ/Madison curb-cut

Pete–

 The patch your crew put in was great!  I’ve been in bed with a cold and fever for what seems like forever, but I crawled out on Friday to go to my meeting and was delighted–absolutely tickled!–with the new easy-access ramp to the curb-cut.

 I look forward to getting the list on Tuesday–will it include hoped-for target dates when the work will get done?

 Anne

 

Friday, October 16, 2009 2:04 PM

From: “O’Connor, Pete” <po’connor@ci.syracuse.ny.us>

To: “Anne

Cc: “Brogan, Dennis” , “Rowser, Shirley”

Anne,

UPDATE,

Sorry about the delay in responding with the list for review!

As you know we have already addressed some concerns.

University and Madison, ramp and pothole issue.      City responsibility.        Completed

University, Madison to Harrison sidewalk on W/S.       Crouse Hospital issue.  Needs to be cited

Crouse, Harrison – Adams sidewalk W/S.                        Rosewood                          Needs to be cited

N/E corner Crouse and Adams ADA Ramp                      City responsibility        will have inspected, schedule temp repair

Sidewalk on Adams Crouse to Irving                                 Crouse hospital                  Needs to be cited

Check all ADA Ramps at Harrison /Elizabeth Blackwell   City responsibility     will inspect, schedule temp repairs

N/S sidewalk                                                                                        SCSD                          Needs to be cited

Harrison/Sarah Logan remove Tarvia in ramp area                City/Hospital    check all ramps

Harrison/Almond sidewalk n/s near Almond and ADA Ramp   Hospital& City   cite and temp repair

Harrison and Almond S/W corner sidewalk, Almond Street/Road    City        inspect and schedule for major repair

Harrison sidewalk S/S between Elizabeth Blackwell and Irving    Hospital    Needs to be cited

Harrison, between Irving and Crouse   No ADA Ramp          need to check ownership and cite

Harrison and Irving pavement markings                                  City     this year weather permitting

Adams and Almond received today 10/16/09                    inspect issue and address

Any of these areas that require major reconstruction will not be done until next year.

Call if you have questions (448-8576)

Thanks

Pete

From: Brogan, Dennis <dbrogan@ci.syracuse.ny.us>
Subject: RE: Univ/Madison curb-cut
To: “O’Connor, Pete” <po’connor@ci.syracuse.ny.us>, “Anne
Cc: “Rowser, Shirley”
Date: Monday, October 19, 2009, 8:32 AM

Pete,

Thanks for the update on what needs to be brought up to acceptable standards for this corners.  Let me know if and when any other areas are identified.

Thanks again,

Dennis

From: Anne 
Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2009 8:53 AM
To: O’Connor, Pete; Rowser, Shirley
Subject: Unusable Curb-cut

I trust Shirley has made you aware of the bad curb-cut on the southeast corner of Almond and Adams St. just before Upstate Medical Center.  The height between the street and the curb is impassable, and behind the curb the sidewalk rises at an excessively steep angle.  That’s why we’re in the street.

 Last year I was in a medical transport van going up Adams Street toward Upstate Medical Center.  In the midst of all that heavy traffic, there was a man in a power wheelchair in the street.  My driver cursed the fellow, and I allowed as how he was certainly trying to get himself killed.

 Now I live in the area and am in the street just like him because of a bad curb-cut.  Last week I was in Adams St. during rush hour traffic.

 Anne

 

Tuesday, October 20, 2009 9:33 AM

From: “O’Connor, Pete” <po’connor@ci.syracuse.ny.us>

To: “Anne

Anne,

Yes I am aware of Almond and Adams. It was the last item listed on the e-mail. I’ll call the person that did the inspection for an update.

Thanks

Pete

From: Anne
To: O’Connor, Pete
Sent: Mon Jul 12 09:53:51 2010
Subject: Curb-cut’s and sidewalks

Pete,

Last fall you and I walked/wheeled around the Harrison/Almond/Adams/University rectangle and you make a lengthy list of curb-cut and sidewalk problems.  You said that most of them would have to wait on 30-day notification to property owners or post-winter repair, then you only had two of the problems fixed.

It is now mid-July and not one additional problem on the list has been taken care of.

Do you have a plan?

Anne

 

Monday, July 12, 2010 2:01 PM

From: “O’Connor, Pete” <po’connor@ci.syracuse.ny.us>

To:

Yes! Unfortunately we just signed our contract with our street structures contractor. We will start him ASAP. I will try to prioritize your list.

Thanks
Pete

Friday, July 23, 2010 8:12 AM

From: “Anne

To: “Pete O’Connor” <po’connor@ci.syracuse.ny.us>

Pete:

One of the main reasons why people using wheelchairs are in the street on Adams is because there is no curb cut on either side of the drive into the parking lot at Harrison House or Townsend Towers (whichever one is off Adams).  Is that the responsibility of the city or the current owner?

Please advise,

Anne

 

Friday, July 23, 2010 8:12 AM

From: “O’Connor, Pete” <po’connor@ci.syracuse.ny.us>

To: “Anne

I will be out of the office until Monday August 2nd, 2010.  Please contact Tom Simone, First Deputy Commissioner of Public Works if you require assistance. Tom’s number is 448-8529.

Thank you.

Friday, August 13, 2010 7:19 AM

From: “Anne

To: “Pete O’Connor” <po’connor@ci.syracuse.ny.us>

Pete,

When we met at the Mayor’s presentation in Thornden Park, I mentioned the problem at Townsend & Genesee.  A sign has been sandbagged into the middle of the wheelchair cut.  You said you knew whereof I spoke.

Nothing will be lost by moving it three feet to the north, but what will be gained is people in wheelchairs being able to stay out of the street.

Why hasn’t the sign been moved?

Anne

P.S.  Does anybody down there know that the City of Syracuse web site is down?

 

 

Tuesday, August 17, 2010 1:02 PM

From: “Anne

To: “Mayor Miner” <mayor@ci.syracuse.ny.us>

Cc: srowser@ci.syracuse.ny.us

 

Dear Mayor Miner:

At the Thornden Park meeting, I referenced the walk/wheel Pete O’Connor and I had taken last fall around the area bounded by Harrison, Almond, Adams and University Avenue .  At that time, he made a very long list of inaccessibility problems with curb cuts and sidewalks.  At the time, only two of the problems were fixed, with Mr. O’Connor saying the rest would have to wait until the winter was over.

About a month ago, when I queried him about nothing being done he said that a contract had just been signed and now things would get done.

One of the problems on the list was at the intersection of Irving and Harrison.  The curb cut on Harrison , on the southeast corner, is placed unusually far above the intersection, consequently, when cars stop for the light, they pull up so far that they are blocking the curb cut.  The lines on the street were pretty well worn off, so I proposed that all that was needed to fix the problem was to have the street lines repainted, with clear lines indicating where traffic had to stop in order to be behind the curb cut and leave it open for wheelchair traffic.

Today, I got caught out in the street and found my wheelchair going one-on-one with a truck because traffic again was blocking the curb cut.  I saw, to my amazement and consternation, that the vertical street lines had been repainted very recently but no horizontal lines had been drawn to keep traffic behind the curb cut.  What this says to me is that Mr. O’Connor is ignoring the problems on the list he drew up.

At the Thornden Park meeting I also told Mr. O’Conner about another problem at the same intersection.  On the northwest corner of Harrison and Irving, on the Harrison Street side, the curb cut is flooding every time it rains.  Power wheelchairs are not sealed underneath and last year I ran into a dangerous problem.  My wheelchair was shorting out and I was being thrown from the chair.  That’s how I found out that going through puddles rusts out the underside of the chair.  All that is needed to solve the problem with this curb cut is to pour some blacktop in to build it up so that water doesn’t puddle.  Again, despite bringing it to Mr. O’Connor’s attention, nothing has been done.

In addition to getting the two problems at the Harrison-Irving intersection taken care of, I also would like Mr. O’Connor to produce the list from our walk together last fall, and annotate it according to (a) what action needs to be taken to resolve the problems; (b) what has already been done; and (c) expected dates of completion.  If, in fact, Mr. O’Connor no longer has the list then I would like another inspection walk-around to be scheduled within ten days.

I don’t want to get hit by a car because I’m forced into the street by the city’s failure to repair unusable curb cuts.  A year ago, Mr. O’Conner assured me that these problems would be taken care of.  They haven’t been.  Kindly figure out what Mr. O’Connor’s problem is and fix it before I have to file federal complaints against the city for violating the American’s with Disabilities Act.  I have a Civil Rights attorney at the U.S. Dept. of Justice on speed dial.  So far, I have been asking you nicely.  Please work with me.

Sincerely,

Anne

 

 

_______________________________________________________________________

Monday, August 23, 2010 1:00 PM

From: “O’Connor, Pete” <po’connor@ci.syracuse.ny.us>

To:

Ann,
I will be calling you this week to discuss our list.
Thanks
Pete

Monday, August 23, 2010 2:52 PM

From: “Anne

To: “PeteO’Connor”

Pete,

Excellent idea.

Anne

Tuesday, August 24, 2010 3:59 PM

From: “O’Connor, Pete” <po’connor@ci.syracuse.ny.us>

To: “Anne

Anne,

Please e-mail your phone #.

Thanks

Pete

Wednesday, August 25, 2010 6:36 AM

From: “Anne

To: “PeteO’Connor”

It’s just like it appears in the phone book:  xxx-xxxx
Anne

Saturday, August 28, 2010 11:41 AM

From: “O’Connor, Pete” <po’connor@ci.syracuse.ny.us>

To: “Anne

Cc: “Mayor” <mayor@ci.syracuse.ny.us>

Anne,

Please review the attached list and rank them according to the ones you want addressed first. Unfortunately due to budget restraints we will not be able to complete all this year. Please feel free to add any other areas of concern   and include them in the rankings. I’ll contact you to meet and discuss upon receiving your rankings.

Thanks

Pete            

            City-Owned Corners 2010                                                                             8/5/10

Madison & University

Adams & Crouse

Harrison & Crouse

Harrison & Eliz. Blackwell

Harrison and Sara Log

Harrison & Almond

Thursday, September 9, 2010 3:51 PM

From: “O’Connor, Pete” <po’connor@ci.syracuse.ny.us>

To: “Anne

Anne,

Good to hear from you. Did you receive the list of corners we discussed last year that I recently sent you? I need to have your priorities soon so we can address them this season. If you have any questions please call me @448-8515.

Thanks

Pete

Thursday, September 9, 2010 4:42 PM

From: “Anne

To: “PeteO’Connor”

Pete,

The list you sent is not the list we drew up last year.  You told me on the phone that nothing could be done until next year.

Anne

 

 

Thursday, September 9, 2010 6:42 PM

From: “O’Connor, Pete” <po’connor@ci.syracuse.ny.us>

To: “‘Anne

Anne,

I will call you Friday to discuss. We can definitely complete some of the concerns this year. Sorry for the confusion/misunderstanding.

Pete

Thursday, September 23, 2010 3:42 AM

 

Pete O’Connor, Commissioner

Dept. of Public Works,

City of Syracuse

Pete,

I am old; I am sick; I am tired—and it is not my job to set priorities, annotate lists, or maintain copies of work that needs to be done to repair curb-cuts and sidewalks to make them accessible for people with disabilities.

One year ago, I wheeled with you around the five-block area bounded by Harrison Street, Almond Street, Adams Street and University Avenue.  I pointed out the problems and you made a list of fourteen items.  If you go to my blog,
http://annecwoodlen.wordpress.com/
 “City of Syracuse v. Disabled People” you can find that list on October 16, 2009.

You are healthy and well-paid, but now you are asking me to travel through traffic in my wheelchair with a pen and paper in hand to set priorities for you.  You are putting an unreasonable burden on me.  I brought the problems to your attention and you should have followed up.  You didn’t. 

The Northeast ADA Center has sent me the form to file a complaint with the U.S. Dept. of Justice.  I vetted your emails in the process of filing the complaint.  I gave you a year and you didn’t get the job done; I doubt the Dept. of Justice will give you that long.

Anne

 

 

About annecwoodlen

I am a tenth generation American, descended from a family that has been working a farm that was deeded to us by William Penn. The country has changed around us but we have held true. I stand in my grandmother’s kitchen, look down the valley to her brother’s farm and see my great-great-great-great-great-grandmother Hannah standing on the porch. She is holding the baby, surrounded by four other children, and saying goodbye to her husband and oldest son who are going off to fight in the Revolutionary War. The war is twenty miles away and her husband will die fighting. We are not the Daughters of the American Revolution; we were its mothers. My father, Milton C. Woodlen, got his doctorate from Temple University in the 1940’s when—in his words—“a doctorate still meant something.” He became an education professor at West Chester State Teachers College, where my mother, Elizabeth Hope Copeland, had graduated. My mother raised four girls and one boy, of which I am the middle child. My parents are deceased and my siblings are estranged. My fiancé, Robert H. Dobrow, was a fighter pilot in the Marine Corps. In 1974, his plane crashed, his parachute did not open, and we buried him in a cemetery on Long Island. I could say a great deal about him, or nothing; there is no middle ground. I have loved other men; Bob was my soul mate. The single greatest determinate of who I am and what my life has been is that I inherited my father’s gene for bipolar disorder, type II. Associated with all bipolar disorders is executive dysfunction, a learning disability that interferes with the ability to sort and organize. Despite an I.Q. of 139, I failed twelve subjects and got expelled from high school and prep school. I attended Syracuse University and Onondaga Community College and got an associate’s degree after twenty-five years. I am nothing if not tenacious. Gifted with intelligence, constrained by disability, and compromised by depression, my employment was limited to entry level jobs. Being female in the 1960’s meant that I did office work—billing at the university library, calling out telegrams at Western Union, and filing papers at a law firm. During one decade, I worked at about a hundred different places as a temporary secretary. I worked for hospitals, banks, manufacturers and others, including the county government. I quit the District Attorney’s Office to manage a gas station; it was more honest work. After Bob’s death, I started taking antidepressants. Following doctor’s orders, I took them every day for twenty-six years. During that time, I attempted%2
This entry was posted in disability rights, Government Services, power wheelchairs and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

2 Responses to City of Syracuse v. Disabled People

  1. weighty says:
    September 26, 2010 at 12:42 pm

    gonna send this to my mom

    Reply
  2. weight says:
    September 27, 2010 at 2:48 pm

    yeah my dad will like this

    Reply

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