Res 0802-2019

By Council Members Cabrera, Salamanca, Rosenthal, Chin, Koslowitz and Cornegy Whereas, The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was a pinnacle piece of legislation that became law in 1990; and Whereas, Under this federal law, discrimination against individuals with a disability in all areas of life, including employment, public spaces, schools and transportation, became illegal; and Whereas, This crucial civil rights law brought protections for people with disabilities into line with other protected classes and has helped to foster the goal of ensuring the basic dignity, full inclusion and participation as an equal member of society for every person in the Country; and Whereas, According to the 2010 Census, there are more than 56 million Americans who have a disability, which is nearly one in every five people; and Whereas, While the ADA has helped remove many physical and figurative barriers that prevent people with disabilities from participating in ways equivalent to able-bodied people, there are still many obstacles; and Whereas, For example, not all branches of the United States Postal Service (USPS) have to be compliant with the ADA; and Whereas, Currently, buildings leased by the USPS only need to be compliant with the ADA if they were built after 1968; and Whereas, Given that the USPS is the country's second oldest federal department there are potentially many post office branches that fall into this category; and Whereas, One example is the USPS post office on Jerome Ave in Fordham, Bronx; and Whereas, This post office has a number of stairs at the front of the building that prevents people requiring wheelchairs, or parents and guardians using strollers, from safely accessing the building; and Whereas, Aside from the fact that the exemption for pre-1968 buildings flies in the face of the intention of the ADA, post offices provide a range of key services that become inaccessible for people with disabilities if the branches are not ADA compliant; and Whereas, In addition to postal services, the branches of the United States Postal Service offer a range of other important services that individuals frequently require, including 6.8 million passport applications each year and more than 276,000 money orders each day; and Whereas, In total, the USPS accommodates close to 840 million retail visits each year from customers; and Whereas, However, for customers with a disability, they are not always able to fully access these branches; and Whereas, As the nation's largest retail network, it is vital that all USPS branches be equally accessible for all of the country's residents, regardless of physical ability; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the U.S. Congress pass and the President sign legislation that requires all U.S. Postal Service post offices meet ADA standards to accommodate customers with disabilities. LS #9431 2/21/19 LMS