by Donna Fredericksen
If New York hosts the 2012 Olympics, it will also host the 2012 Paralympics, and United Spinal will play a role in making both a success for people with disabilities.
Queens is the largest of the five boroughs that make up New York City. Stretching 109 square miles, it is the home of the two metropolitan airports-JFK International on its south shore and LaGuardia on its north shore-as well as the 1939-1940 and 1964-1965 World’s Fair (located in what is now called Flushing Meadow Park), the New York Mets, and (as Paul Simon informed us in his song “Me and Julio, Down by the School Yard”) the Ice King of Corona.
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton said it best when describing the borough, at a recent Queens Chamber of Commerce (QCC) luncheon: “There isn’t any place in America like Queens. It’s the most diverse and dynamic place . . . with some of the most extraordinary, energetic, entrepreneurial people you’ll find anywhere in the world.” Of course the representatives from United Spinal Association who were among those the Senator was addressing, couldn’t agree more, since for the 57 years we’ve been based in New York City, the past 17 have been in the borough of Queens.
United Spinal Association is proud of its New York City roots. Those roots help to establish us as leading organization in advocating for accessible transportation both here and nationwide through our work on the transportation provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act. In 1985, the Association settled a lawsuit against Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which resulted in accessible buses, subway stations and van services for people with disabilities. In 2002, the Association won a landmark settlement of federal court litigation in which the City of New York agreed to commit approximately $218 million to make all of its 158,738 street corners accessible to wheelchair users.
Today, the Association continues to lead the effort to make the New York City taxi and livery system more accessible to persons who use wheelchairs. We continue our work to make more affordable accessible housing by sitting on building codes committees. We helped create the most comprehensive accessibility building code requirements in the country, forcing all new or renovated residential dwelling units to be 100% adaptable. We also sponsor a variety of wheelchair sports programs, including the New York Mets Wheelchair Softball team and the Jana Hunsaker Memorial Wheelchair Tennis Tournament, an annual event held at the U.S. Tennis Center at Flushing Meadow Park. And the United Spinal Association has been a member of the QCC for over ten years.
As we look to the future of our relationship with this borough and city, we see many potential opportunities for our members that will come into focus especially if New York City wins the bid to host the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.
On March 10, 2004, United Spinal’s Assistant for Special Projects, Victor Calise, a former Paralympian (Nagano ‘98, Sled Hockey), was invited to attend a NYC2012 press conference, as a representative of the Paralympic Athletics. At the event, held at Vanderbilt Hall in Grand Central Terminal, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Queens Borough President Helen Marshall introduced five architectural plans for the Olympic Village. Each previewed what they hoped would be a transformation of what is now known as Hunters Point-73 acres of desolate land on the western tip of Queens across the East River from the United Nations, creatively renamed Queens West by NYC2012.
“The 2012 Olympics Games would have an unprecedented and enduring impact on New York City, and the benefits would be felt in all five boroughs,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “The Olympic Games would create 125,000 jobs, and pump $11 billion into our economy. It would spur the largest investment in parks and recreation facilities in the city’s history- all privately paid for. And it would give us the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to transform what is now a largely abandoned and blighted stretch of the East River waterfront in Queens into a stunning new residential community. Designing the Olympic Village is a breathtaking project, and should we be lucky enough to be chosen to host the Games, Queens will provide a spectacular home away from home for the world’s greatest athletes.”
The Olympic Village would house 16,000 athletes and following the Olympics, it would provide residential housing for up to 18,000 New Yorkers. “All designs are amazing,” commented Calise, “but my concern is that all of them and the venues be accessible to the athletics who will attend the Paralympics that take place the two weeks after the Olympics.”
Following the press conference, as he reviewed the five designs, Calise shared his concerns with two of the architects, as well as the Senior Project Architect and Urban Planner for NYC2012, Scott Raphael Schiamberg. The architects, cognizant of accessible design, were eager to share the adaptation they had included in their models and Schiamberg said he was looking forward to United Spinal’s assistance in the village design.
While the winning design for the Olympic Village will be announced this month, the host city for the 2012 Olympic Games will not be selected by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) until July 6, 2005. And to ensure that any design is accessible, Calise has been asked to sit on the committee for the design for the Olympic/Paralympic Village.
Donna Fredericksen is Senior Public Affairs Officer.
