Advocates, council and city agencies spar over blocked curb ramps and bus stops after winter storms

The New York City Council convened an oversight hearing to examine how the city maintained pedestrian and transit access after heavy January and February 2026 snowstorms, with disability advocates telling the newly formed Committee on Disabilities that blocked curb ramps and uncleared sidewalks left many disabled New Yorkers housebound.

Council Member Shahana Hanif, chair of the Committee on Disabilities, opened the hearing by saying she was diagnosed with lupus at 17 and describing accessible transit as "infrastructure, dignity and survival." The hearing brought together the Department of Sanitation (DSNY), the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD), contractors and scores of advocates and residents.

Advocates focused on immediate effects: wheelchair users, seniors and others could not reach medical appointments, work or polling sites because curb cuts, crosswalk approaches and bus boarding areas were buried or frozen. Jean Ryan of Disabled In Action said many intended witnesses could not attend the hearing because they were stranded at home. Jonathan Hannon and other witnesses testified they filed 311 complaints and were told by DSNY that removal responsibilities fell to property owners — testimony the witnesses said contradicted provisions in the New York City Administrative Code they cited.

Acting DSNY Commissioner Javier Luhan described the scope of the city's response: more than 2,200 plows attached, 700 salt spreaders prefilled, emergency snow shovelers mobilized, and, he said, unprecedented clearing of pedestrian infrastructure with counts the department provided to the committee (13,278 bus stops, 78,087 crosswalks and 16,031 hydrants cleared, and more than 600,000,000 pounds of snow melted after the event). Luhan said the department had shifted to a "snow equity" routing model, increased emergency shovelers and used mechanized equipment and private contractors to supplement operations.

MOPD Deputy Commissioner Emily Sweet told the committee that MOPD serves as a coordination and escalation point on disability-related impacts but does not perform plowing or shoveling; the office joins multiagency calls and relays prioritized complaints to operational agencies. She said MOPD helped ensure disability impacts were elevated in the response but described the office's role as advisory rather than operational.

Council members pressed agencies on several points: how the city defines "cleared" (DSNY said the operational definition is a 4-foot path with traction aid recommended), who is ultimately accountable when curb ramps remain blocked (DSNY repeatedly said adjacent property owners are responsible but acknowledged the department issues violations and can prioritize enforcement), and whether 311 complaint triage results in meaningful remediation (DSNY said it used manual and automated keyword triage to prioritize thousands of disability‑related 311 reports).

DOT and contractors described performance at sheltered bus stops. DOT said its vendor JCDecaux is contractually required to clear shelters and that response times improved between the two storms (from about four days in the first event to roughly two days in the second), though officials acknowledged clearing thousands of assets is a capacity challenge and that liquidated damages had not been assessed during these storms.

Advocacy organizations including Disability Rights New York, the Center for the Independence of the Disabled in New York and local independent living centers urged the council to pursue a proactive, municipal sidewalk‑clearing program rather than rely on complaint‑driven enforcement and property‑owner compliance. Witnesses recommended a city clearinghouse to match paid shovelers to priority curb cuts and urged better outreach to seniors and people unable to hire help.

What happens next: the agencies committed to follow up with data requested by the council (detailed 311 dispositions, post‑storm cost reconciliations, vehicle and staffing inventories and geocoded clearing records). Council members and advocates said they will press for clearer contractual timelines for private operators (including Citi Bike/Lyft and bus-shelter vendors) and better public messaging about property‑owner responsibilities.

The hearing closed with public testimony continuing for more than an hour; committee staff invited written testimony to the record within 72 hours and announced a preliminary budget hearing for the new Disabilities Committee in mid‑March.

This oversight hearing highlighted the tension between large-scale, vehicle‑focused snow operations and the practical need for continuous, passable 4‑foot pedestrian corridors — a gap advocates said the city must treat as a civil‑rights issue rather than a secondary maintenance task.