Subway lines are very long in New York; some of them you can ride for hours from beginning to end. Here's a shot of one of the lines with all the stops represented by dots.
The scarce little blue squares indicate stops that are handicap accessible, and they're not even THAT accessible - you can't just pick any corner to come up out of the subway; it has to be the one with the elevator. And THEN you have to brave the violent walkers and crossing the street with cabs just inches away from hitting you while they wait for you to cross so that they can turn. None of that scares me as a walker...but it scares me to imagine Emma in her wheelchair...crossing the street as a cab turns and doesn't see her.
So let's say Emma could get through a complicated subway system and manages to get in and out of the subway car without her tiny front wheels getting stuck in between the platform and the train. If they do get stuck, a nice stranger might help her. Or maybe someone only helps her because she's the holdup in preventing the doors from closing. And she's embarrassed. Once she finally gets out on the street, she manages to roll herself much farther on the sidewalk than she should have to because the subway stops are inadequate. She finally gets to her restaurant destination...and there are two small steps up into the restaurant and no ramp. Or maybe a straight roll in, and one step down into the restaurant. And the bathroom? Downstairs, no elevator.
I realize that this is a worst-case scenario imagining of mine. There are handicapped buses (I think) and cab drivers that would wait for Emma to transfer in and disassemble her wheelchair (and probably help her put it in the trunk). My point, though, is that we all take advantage of how easy life is as walkers. Incredibly easy. No, easy's not the word...anxiety-free. We don't have to get to the front of the restaurant, stop to observe the steps, and say, "Oh. Let's find somewhere else."
One modern, redeeming quality: the Chelsea High Line park. This is an old elevated railroad line that has been turned into a one-and-a-half-mile-long park. The signs for it all say that it's fully handicap-accessible, and there are elevators galore. Contemporary glass ones, even. On top of that, there's this cool little amphitheater that allows you sit over the street and stare down the traffic coming at you. The amphitheater floor and seats both are all gently sloped so that using steps is completely unnecessary. Here are some pictures of this gem of the city:
They even left the old railroad lines where they could:
I do love New York, and it's probably still my favorite city. But now there's a little tarnish on my shiny, silver opinion of it.
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