Broken wheelchair lift in East New York is preventing access to community board meetings
City officials attribute the delay to fixing the problem to difficulties obtaining replacement parts.
"I just feel left out"
The lift is located inside the NYPD's Community Center at 127 Pennsylvania Ave. Its prolonged outage has left wheelchair users and those with mobility issues unable to reach the board's upstairs office and general meeting space.
Evelyn Pugh, a longtime Community Board 5 member who serves on the Education and Youth Committee, is among those directly impacted.
"This is like the board that makes decisions on housing, different businesses that come in the community," she said. "So it's important for me to be a part of that process."
To accommodate Pugh's needs, the education committee meets downstairs, but general meetings continue to be held in the inaccessible upper-level room, which can fit more people.
"I just feel left out," Pugh said.
She said she once got stuck on the lift while exiting a meeting and had to wait 45 minutes with a fellow board member to get down. Since then, she has been unable to use the device at all.
Advocates come out in support of Pugh
Community Board 5 Chairwoman Alice Lowman says members have been advocating for better accessibility throughout the district for years, including an ongoing $400 million accessibility upgrade at the nearby Broadway Junction subway hub.
"She's an active community person. She's in a wheelchair, but she goes to every meeting, CEC meetings, elected official's meetings. When we have demonstrations, Ms. Pugh is there before some of us are there. She needs to get where she needs to go, to be there for her community," Lowman said.
Jessica Franco, another board member, said the inaccessibility sends a harmful message.
"It's extremely unfair because they are also members of our community. They also want to give feedback. They want to participate, and we want their full participation," Franco said.
NYPD in search of the needed parts to make the fix
NYPD says it has been working to repair the lift since it broke down last spring.
In a statement, an NYPD spokesperson cited supply chain issues as a major reason for the delay, writing, "Unfortunately, obtaining the necessary parts to repair the lift has been difficult due to limited availability of parts from the manufacturer...We understand that having the lift out of order restricts access to [the] building for some individuals but we are working to bring it back into working order as soon as possible."
The department added that parts are expected to arrive this month, with repairs slated for completion in June.
Pugh emphasized the importance of equitable participation.
"Everybody's entitled to be a part of the community board," she said. "And we shouldn't let a ramp stop us."
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