Hi! Kanchan interesting article. But don't you think that we have all the laws , they only need to be implemented honestly. arvind On 8/25/08, pamnani <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > This article is from the New yourk times. Though it is not directly > concerned with the Visually Challenged but is still worth reading. I dont > know when we will have such laws in India. Kanchan > > > U.S. Says Many Apartments Violate Law on Disabled - NYTimes.com > The New York Times > Printer Friendly Format Sponsored By choke/choke_88x31 > > August 19, 2008 > > U.S. Says Many Apartments Violate Law on Disabled > By > CHARLES V. BAGLI > > Facing potential lawsuits by the federal government, developers and > landlords in New York City may need to spend tens of millions of dollars to > renovate > more than 100,000 apartments built since 1991 to comply with federal housing > laws barring discrimination against tenants who use wheelchairs, real estate > industry officials say. > > For 20 years, residential developers have complied with a city law requiring > them to ensure that all the apartments they build are accessible to disabled > tenants. Considered path-breaking legislation when it was enacted in 1988, > the city law essentially meets the federal requirements of the Fair Housing > Act, developers and city officials say. > > But the United States attorney's office in Manhattan has sent letters to > about a dozen of the city's most prominent landlords and their architects > saying > that some of their buildings were "not accessible to persons with > disabilities," which would constitute discrimination under the Fair Housing > Act. The > recipients included Related Companies, the > Durst Organization > , Rose Associates, Rockrose Development and Silverstein Properties. > > The letters said that doors were not wide enough, and that kitchens and > bathrooms were not big enough to allow someone in a wheelchair to maneuver. > Also, > the letters said, tenants could not install "grab bars" to lift themselves > in or out of a tub, because the walls had not been reinforced. > > The federal prosecutor's office, which began sending the letters in January, > has asked owners for meetings, building inspections and all the records of > the design and layout of the apartments in specific buildings. Until > recently, the real estate industry had hoped that the matter would quietly > go away. > > But last week, the United States attorney's office filed a lawsuit against > one of the recipients, AvalonBay Communities, and its architects, charging > them > with discrimination against disabled people by failing to provide sufficient > access at Avalon Chrystie Place, a building on the Lower East Side with 361 > apartments. > > Now other landlords and developers - virtually everyone who has built an > apartment house in New York City since 1991 - fear they may be next. Along > with > city officials, they assert that compliance with what is known as Local Law > 58 satisfies the standards set by the Fair Housing Act. > > "This is not limited to these 12 or 13 buildings," said Steven Spinola, > president of the > Real Estate Board of New York > , the industry's powerful lobbying arm. "If there's a decision that Local > Law 58 does not meet the criteria for apartments' being accessible, you > could > easily argue that every building built since 1991 wasn't built in accordance > with the federal guidelines." > > Mr. Spinola estimates that 100,000 rental apartments have been built since > 1991, as well as thousands of condominiums. The cost of renovating bathrooms > and kitchens, one developer said, would be "astronomical." Another said that > his company was already redesigning apartments for future buildings in ways > that would eliminate foyer closets to provide more room for entryways. > > City officials, who had scheduled a meeting with federal prosecutors for the > day after the suit was filed against AvalonBay, promptly canceled it, > furious > that they had not been notified. > > "In light of the U.S. attorney's lawsuit, we postponed our meeting so we > could assess the matter," Martha Mann Alfaro, a deputy chief in the city's > Law > Department, said in a statement. "However, we anticipate having productive > discussions with the U.S. attorney." > > Rebekah Carmichael, a spokeswoman for the United States attorney, Michael J. > Garcia, declined to comment, saying the office did not confirm or deny the > existence of current investigations. > > Edward M. Schulman, general counsel for AvalonBay, said the company's > housing was "fully accessible to persons with disabilities." > > "Our buildings have been constructed in compliance with New York City's > Local Law 58," he said. "We are at a loss to understand why the federal > government > is suddenly viewing New York City's Local Law 58 as deficient and > unsatisfactory." > > This year, the landlords and architects enlisted the Bloomberg > administration to help push back the federal prosecutors. And the Real > Estate Board hired > a former federal prosecutor, Sarah L. Shudofsky, to represent them. > > Jonathan Durst, co-president of the Durst Organization, described the > investigation as "an incredible waste of government resources." The Durst > Organization > got a letter concerning the Helena, a 600-unit apartment building at 57th > Street and 12th Avenue. > > But Kleo King, senior vice president for accessibility services for the > United Spinal Association, a nonprofit advocacy group, said that the federal > government > had never recognized Local Law 58 as an acceptable alternative, or "safe > harbor," to federal standards. She said that after Law 58 was in place, the > city > lowered clearance requirements for bathrooms and began allowing kitchen sink > and cooktop installations that did not provide adequate floor space for > tenants > with wheelchairs. > > "Just because they were able to get a building permit, it does not mean they > complied with Fair Housing," said Ms. King, whose organization used to be > known > as the Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association. "The real point that the > Department of Justice is trying to make is that people building these > buildings > have to look at both laws to make sure that they're in compliance." > > Twenty years ago, advocates for the disabled hailed the stringent > regulations in Local Law 58 while Mr. Spinola denounced it, saying it would > drive up housing > costs. It required that all new and renovated apartments be made accessible > to the disabled, in contrast with federal standards at the time, which > required > that only 5 percent be accessible. > > "It was seen as a breakthrough," said Marilyn Saviola, an advocate for the > disabled who was part of a group that helped write the city law. "But it was > a hard battle. There was tremendous resistance from the administration, > initially, and there was a great deal of resistance from the real estate > community." > > In 1991, the federal government also raised its requirements for housing > accessibility. But there is not a mandatory and uniform set of standards, > although > the > Department of Housing and Urban Development > cites the design standards set by the American National Standards > Institute. > > The federal investigation in New York began with a 2006 survey by the Fair > Housing Justice Center, a nonprofit New York group, covering 14 recently > built > apartment buildings in Manhattan, including AvalonBay's Chrystie Place. > > Diane Houk, executive director of the fair housing center, said that her > group found that all 14 buildings had interior apartment doors that were too > narrow, > 28 and 30 inches, thermostats as high as 63 inches from the floor and a lack > of clear floor space in the bathrooms. > > "We found that none were in compliance with the Federal Housing Act and > referred all the information to the U.S. attorney and briefed HUD," she > said. "I > do not understand why New York City developers and architects thought they > were exempt." > > In a July 14 letter to the United States attorney's office, however, > Michael A. Cardozo > , the city's corporation counsel, wrote that the city's law addressed all > the features of accessibility required by the law. He acknowledged that it > "does > not impose precisely the same requirements," but he added that the local law > satisfied the intent of the law. > Copyright 2008 > The New York Times Company > Join Access India convention: For updates on it visit: > http://accessindia.org.in/harish/convention.htm > Registration is now open! > > To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with > the subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please > visit the list home page at > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in >
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