New York City’s disabled are fighting for better wheelchair access on the streets. As such, they will participate in the third annual Disability Pride Parade. Problematic issues include: the subway (only 25% of 472 stations are wheelchair accessible); elevators in general (fix problematic ones, maintain existing ones and build new ones, while updating info on new app); fix and improve Access-A-Ride (which enables disabled users to get rides without making reservations/shared rides and is cheaper); continue to improve on cab-wheelchair accessibility (which is due to be halved in the next 2 ½ years) and more.

However, it’s not all doom and gloom.  According to the recently published Performing Disability. Dance. Artistry report, found that:

“the dance makers found New York City newly brimming with opportunity for disability arts, spurred in part by a growing advocacy movement, engaged government leadership, an expanding pool of interested funders, and effective promotion and program development furthered by Dance/NYC and partners such as Disability/Arts/NYC Task Force.”

However, there is still much work to be done since the report also found that:

“participants experienced significant barriers to successful performances, from inaccessible facilities and transportation options to extreme financial demands placed on disabled touring artists and subtleties of audience engagement.”