By Ronda Kaysen
Q: I am a rent-stabilized tenant in a 130-unit rental building that was constructed in 1929. The entrance from the street to the sunken lobby has five steps with no accommodation for the disabled or elderly via a ramp. Last year the managing agent replaced all the steps with new ones. Is the building owner required to make the building accessible to people with disabilities?
–Anonymous, Hell’s Kitchen
A: If your landlord removed and replaced all the steps, he should have added an accessible route like a ramp or an elevator, according to the city’s Department of Buildings. However, the landlord may have requested a hardship waiver from the city because of conditions like structural issues. “Ramps end up being fairly large, so most older buildings don’t have the space to accommodate them,” said
Theodore E. Klingensmith, a senior architect at RAND Engineering and Architecture. If the steps were simply repaired, but not replaced, he would not have had to make the entrance accessible.
If you suspect that the landlord did not follow the building code, report the condition to 311. Even if your landlord did not break any rules, if a tenant requests reasonable accommodations for tenants with disabilities, then the landlord is required to make those changes, so long as the work is not cost prohibitive and is architecturally feasible. In a building with 130 units, someone probably has mobility issues. If you have a disability and would like the landlord to make the main entrance more accessible, talk to the managing agent about it. Send a letter by certified mail requesting a ramp so you can use the main entrance safely.
If the landlord rebuffs your requests, you have tools at your disposal to compel him to act. One option is to file a complaint with the New York City Commission on Human Rights, which enforces the city’s human rights law. The law prohibits, among other things, discrimination based on disability. You could be eligible for damages, and the agency could even impose civil penalties.
“There are real costs associated with not complying” with the law, said Kelly McAnnany, a director of the Disability Justice Program at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest.
Threats of litigation aside, a ramp would benefit many residents in the building. Parents with strollers would appreciate the convenience, and a tenant rolling a shopping cart home from the grocery store would have an easier time. “The concept of universal accessibility means everybody wins,” Ms. McAnnany said. “It means that people have an easier and a safer time getting in and out of the building.”
From The New York Times, September 27, 2014