A much-lauded new library in New York City’s Long Island City district designed by Steven Holl Architects might have serious shortcomings when it comes to accessibility and universal design.
It’s difficult to remember pain when you’re not feeling it, and harder still to imagine living with physical limits you don’t actually have. But all it takes is a brief stroll to see how badly designed the city is for those who are very young, old, short, heavy, frail, or in any way impaired.
Only 24 percent of the system’s 472 stations are ADA-accessible, which makes New York subways the least accessible major mass transit system in the country.