July is Disabilities Awareness month. This annual recognition dates back to 1990, when President George H. W. Bush signed into law the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This landmark legislation prohibited discrimination against people with disabilities. It is estimated that more than 160 million people in the United States live with chronic disease or experience disabilities.
Mayor David N. Dinkins and Police Officer Steven D. MacDonald in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, March 16, 1991. Photographer: Joan Vitale Strong. Mayor David N. Dinkins photograph collection, NYC Municipal Archives.
It should not be surprising, however, that New York City’s progressive leadership understood and acted on the special needs of its residents with disabilities almost a quarter-century before the federal legislation. On April 8, 1968, Mayor John V. Lindsay issued Executive Order no. 72 which created the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on the Handicapped. The Order directed the Committee “…to review the needs and problems of the handicapped and to advise the Mayor of the courses of action that should be taken in the public and private sectors to meet their needs.”
Initially twelve New Yorkers, consisting of people with disabilities and those without, were appointed to serve on the Committee. After two years, the Mayor’s Office added a full-time professional staff person to assist with the Committee’s activities.
In 1972, the Committee submitted a detailed report to the Mayor. It stated that “New York City is probably the foremost center in the world in providing medical, rehabilitative and social agency services. There are over five hundred social agencies in the city which in some way or other relate to the problems of the disabled.” It went on to detail how these efforts were not coordinated and although well-intentioned did not fully address problems experienced by the people with disabilities.
The New Federal Education Laws for Handicapped Children by Mollie Shaw, October 1978. Mayor Edward I. Koch Collection, New York City Municipal Archives.
The Committee recommended the Advisory Committee be formalized as an office under the direction of the Mayor. “By establishing this Office for the Handicapped as an official City agency, the Mayor would affirm his position of progressive leadership. The creation of such an office will demonstrate the Mayor’s, and the City’s, recognition of the rights and needs of its handicapped citizens.”
In January, 1973, based on the Committee’s work, Mayor Lindsay established the New York City Mayor’s Office for the Handicapped. Although not a separate agency, the new Office would be “. . . located in the Office of the Deputy Mayor-City Administrator, and, therefore, directly accountable to me [the Mayor].”
“It’s the Law, Rights of People with Disabilities,” Spring 1989. Mayor Edward I. Koch Collection, New York City Municipal Archives.
In the Executive Order, Lindsay wrote “…the City of New York has had a deep concern with the problems and needs of the handicapped… I created the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on the Handicapped so that I might be informed of these problems and needs ...and it has become apparent from our experience with the Advisory Committee that City services need broad expansion in order to meet these problems and needs and to facilitate the right of the handicapped to fair employment, access to public accommodations and decent housing…” The new mayoral office would eventually serve as a model for 200 other similar entities in the United Sates.
Twenty years later, during the administration of Mayor David N. Dinkins, the Mayor’s Office for the Handicapped became the Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD). Dinkins re-affirmed the newly re-named office’s responsibility for “developing City policies concerning people with disabilities, overseeing and assisting implementation of City compliance with laws recognizing rights of people with disabilities, providing information, referral and advocacy services, and serving as the liaison between the disability community and as an advocate for the disability community in society.” The MOPD has continued this important work to the current day.
Several Municipal Archives mayoral collections document the City’s efforts with regards to disabled persons.
Mayor Lindsay’s subject and confidential subject files contain correspondence related to the Mayor’s Advisory Committee and Office for the Handicapped. Although the Office continued under Mayor Beame, its records during his administration have not been identified.
Mayor’s Office for the Handicapped Newsletter, 1986. Mayor Edward I. Koch Collection, New York City Municipal Archives.
Mayor Koch’s correspondence files are extensive and reflect his personal involvement with all aspects of municipal administration. There are numerous reports—monthy, annual—as well as transcripts of testimony on disability issues, copies of newspaper articles, memorandum and constituent correspondence.
The greatest volume of correspondence relates to the City’s building code and the need to modify it to improve access for people with disabilities. The Municipal Library collection also includes a publication on the topic: The New York City Convention and Exhibition Center: Accessibility and Usability for Disabled Persons, 1973.
The Mayor David N. Dinkins collection contains the greatest volume of material—forty-six cubic feet of records from the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities. The Giuliani era generated two cubic feet. The records from the Bloomberg and de Blasio administrations are still being inventoried.
As noted above, Mayor Koch commented on everything that took place during his administration. His remarks were typically succinct. Here is the complete text of a memo Koch sent to Paul Dickstein [Budget Director] on February 23, 1989:
“See the enclosed February 21 memo from Carol Ann Roberson [MOH Director]. Why shouldn’t we make the pool accessible to people with disabilities? What is the additional cost? My predisposition is that many handicapped people will use the pool, and therefore, the cost is worth it. Please advise.”
There was not a reply, but no doubt the cost was worth it.