Category: News

Welcome to Our New Website!

We are so pleased to welcome you to the new Center for Independence of the Disabled, New York (or CIDNY) website!

We hope that you will enjoy the new design and features. We think that it will make it easier to find the information that you are looking for.

Site Navigation

We have reorganized the content and look of the site. There are now multiple ways to access the content that you need and there are more visuals and other breaks in the text. We included more icons for people with low English language literacy to be better able to access information and services.

Fresh Content

Our site now features more images, our social media feeds, a new blog, and updated content so that you can better understand what we’re up to and engage with us. 

Accessibility

We created the site using Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) guidelines. All of the images have alt text for screen readers. Our staff has done multiple rounds of testing of the site on desktop computers, mobile devices, computer monitor stand, and in JAWS screen reader, MAGic screen magnification software, and ZoomText magnifier and screen reader. If you encounter any issues or need a document on the site in an alternate format, please don’t hesitate to contact me at jpowers@cidny.org.

Translation

We included a Google translate widget so that pages can be translated into other languages, including the 23 languages other than English that are spoken by our team. 

Search

You can now search throughout the website for the information and resources that you need.

Tell Us What You Think

Please take a moment to complete this feedback survey so we can continue to make our site more valuable for our visitors.

New Program at CIDNY: NY Connects

NY Connects helps people with disabilities and seniors understand their long-term care options.

CIDNY recently hired 23 new staff members to complete our NY Connects team. The NY Connects team includes: a program director, an education and training coordinator, one program support, four borough managers, an outreach coordinator, two outreach workers, and 13 benefits counselors.

Our NY Connects team members speak 12 languages other than English. These include: Spanish, Greek, Arabic, ASL, Vietnamese, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, and Romanian.

The staff identify with several disabilities, including but not limited to: learning disabilities, visual, hearing, and physical disabilities. Their backgrounds include: law, social work, human services, outreach, counseling, education, and emergency management.

CIDNY’s NY Connects Program’s goal is to link disabled New Yorkers with the resources to help meet their long term care needs. Benefits counselors will offer peer-centered counseling and connect disabled New Yorkers in each borough to local services and programs.

Through a comprehensive screening process, NY Connects benefits counselors provide personalized counseling. They help participants make informed decisions. They can assist in accessing available services and support options that meet existing or future long term needs.

CIDNY’s NY Connects partners with several ILCs throughout the city so we can have a physical presence in every borough. We also partner to get the word out about what NY Connects can do to serve the disabled population in our city.

CIDNY’s NY Connects is a trusted service to get free information about the range of supports that can help a person with disabilities (PWD) remain independent. This is available whether they want to live in their home, a nursing home, or other residential setting.

Who We Serve 

NY Connects serves individuals of all ages and income levels who want to learn more about long term services and supports in New York City. We serve:

  • Adults of all ages living with a long term disability
  • Adults with a disability regardless of income source(s)
  • Younger adults living with a long term disability
  • Caregivers of adults and parents of children with a disability
  • Professional service providers who work with someone in need of long term services and supports.

How to Contact Us for Help with Long Term Care Goals

Launching on September 1st 2017, the NY Connects benefits counselors can be reached at  844-862-7930.

Locations

Benefits counselors are available to help at our offices in Queens (80-02 Kew Gardens Rd, #400, Queens, NY 11415) and Manhattan (841 Broadway, Suite 301, New York, NY 10003).

We are partnering with other organizations to have convenient locations throughout the city:

In the Bronx at 4419 3rd Ave, Suite 2C, Bronx, NY 10457

In Brooklyn at 27 Smith Street, Suite 200, Brooklyn, NY 11201

In Staten Island at 56 Bay Street, Staten Island, NY 10301

Report on City Curb Cuts Agrees with Disability Community Concerns

People with disabilities who have trouble using New York City sidewalks and curb cuts have a reason for hope.
 
A Special Master, someone appointed by a judge to make recommendations, looked at a proposed settlement on curb cuts. He is a national expert on the Americans with Disabilities Act and disability rights. It is now up to Judge Daniels to accept all or some of the Special Master’s twelve recommendations.
 
The Special Master agrees with our arguments and concerns. We are pleased that our advocacy and statements made by people with disabilities made a difference.
 
In 2014, CIDNY staff and volunteers surveyed 1066 curbs in lower Manhattan. We showed the horrible conditions of the City’s curb cuts. At the same time, a settlement negotiated with the City by United Spinal was being reviewed. Judge Daniels agreed that other groups representing people with disabilities could weigh in on the new proposal.
 
CIDNY, with other coalition partners and individuals with disabilities represented by Disability Rights Advocates and Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP, told the court that the new proposal didn’t work for all people with disabilities. We told the Judge that the proposal did not require the City to follow the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). It did not include the needs of people who are blind. It did not give the City deadlines, a monitoring process, or ensure that curb cuts would be fixed to meet requirements of the ADA in the next 20 years.
 
Advocates from CIDNY and our coalition partners shared their experiences trying to use City streets. People who use wheelchairs or who are blind told the Judge about having to get off the sidewalks and into traffic because of missing or bad curb cuts. They told the Judge about ending up in the middle of an intersection when curb cuts didn’t have raised bumps that let them know they are leaving the sidewalk. People also told of tripping or having their wheelchairs tip over because of bad curb cuts.
 
Testimony by New Yorkers with disabilities helped the court and the Special Master understand the need for a better settlement on curb cuts.
 
You can help us continue to make a difference. We work on a lot of issues that affect people with disabilities. These include health coverage, transportation, housing, education, and employment. To find out more or to get involved, contact Monica Bartley (mbartley@cidny.org). Monica can connect you with our CIDNY Action Network. She can help you get involved in specific advocacy activities or learn more about what we’re doing. Your voice can be heard.