Office of the Advocate for People with Disabilities a step forward, disability advocates say

Gov. Kathy Hochul has reinstated the Office of the Advocate for People with Disabilities which will help protect the rights of state residents with disabilities.

Assembly Bill A3130, signed Feb. 4, “assure[s] that persons with disabilities are afforded the opportunity to exercise all of the rights and responsibilities accorded to citizens of the state of New York.” The office was originally created by former Gov. Mario Cuomo and dissolved under Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s tenure.

Wantagh resident and Director of Planning and Public Policy for the Long Island Center for Independent Living, Inc., Therese Brzezinski, has advocated for the passage of the bill on behalf of disabled peoples. A professional disabilities advocate, Brzezinski herself has lived with cerebral palsy for the duration of her life.

“[The bill] will make a tremendous difference for people with disabilities,” Brzezinski said. “I believe it’s going to make New York a better place overall.”

The office’s director will be appointed by the governor. The office will also work alongside a council to be notified of any issues in the community.

Brzezinski said that members of the disabled community are often left out of discussions and state decisions. She used the impact of the pandemic as one of leading examples, noting that printed material for the Covid-19 vaccine was inaccessible to the blind and many of those with disabilities lack access to transportation to receive the vaccine.

She said she hoped Hochul wouldn’t follow in former Gov. Cuomo’s footsteps of forgetting about disabled New Yorkers.

Before his resignation, Gov. Cuomo was sued by advocacy group Disability Rights New York for the failure to provide American Sign Language interpreters or captions during his daily televised briefings concerning Covid-19. Vital information remained inaccessible to deaf audiences, thereby violating Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. After the lawsuit, Cuomo was required to provide ASL interpreters at all his future briefings.

But the trend of excluding individuals with disabilities goes beyond the pandemic, Brzezinski said. “I honestly don’t feel proud about the way the state executes its responses to people with disabilities,” she said.

Susan McCormack, Executive Director of the LICIL, shared Brzezinski’s sentiments. McCormack, 61 of Long Beach, said the bill has been “sorely needed in the state.”

“[LICIL] is here to make sure people with disabilities are getting what they deserve, which is the same as every other citizen of the United States,” said McCormack. “They deserve equal access and guaranteed rights under the ADA.”

Though she’s pleased with the signage, Brzezinski said she believes that more can be done by state representatives to assure ADA-compliance. She referenced Gov. Hochul’s state address and message of inclusivity, and hopes that individuals with disabilities will be included in Hochul’s vision of a “new New York.”

“We’re looking for more than just a Band-Aid fix,” said Brzezinski. “We need a permanent representative in the state government. There should be nothing about us without us.”

LICIL, established in 1980 by and for persons with disabilities, is made up of disabled and non-disabled professionals who share the desire to see all reach their maximum potential. For more information about the group, go online to:
https://licilinc.org/.