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obsoletevernacular9 t1_jcvziay wrote

Reply to comment by tarandab in Does anyone live in Cambridge-Boston-Brookline WITH a baby and WITHOUT a car? by Bostonosaurus

It's awful right ? I have no idea how disabled people with mobility challenges are supposed to be able to live there.

It's really tough for parents of little kids, too, because most subway stations don't have elevators and you can't bring an open stroller on the bus. I have un coincidentally not been back to NYC since I had only one kid.

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tarandab t1_jcw0iq2 wrote

My sister lives in NYC and she met us for dinner yesterday- they took the subway there. After I told her about the sign I saw she mentioned that she and her husband had to carry the stroller up/down the stairs at least at one end of the trip. And obviously this is a huge accessibility issue for wheelchair users, people who use other mobility aids or even just struggle with stairs. (My sister is fortunate that most of the places she takes her kid are places she can easily walk to.)

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obsoletevernacular9 t1_jcw1eb5 wrote

Yes, or anyone with a suitcase or cart. It's not friendly to the elderly either.

The thing with carrying a stroller is that you can really only safely do that with 2 adults and 1 kid or a very light stroller if you're alone.

My sister lives in NYC and had a baby in fall and when I warned her about this, she said they wouldn't take the subway much. It's incredible how much transit inaccessibility incentivizes people to drive in the most dense city in the US.

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aray25 t1_jcwmxre wrote

Pretty sure I read a couple years ago that a woman and her baby were both tragically killed when she fell down the stairs at a New York subway station while trying to carry a stroller up the stairs. MTA's response? A PSA about why you shouldn't try to carry a stroller up the stairs. No apology. No "renewed commitment" to accessibility. Not even an acknowledgement that this is a huge systematic issue for them.

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