Unable to Get Around: The Physical Accessibility of City College

Saajed Yaseen, a 19-year-old City College sophomore, occasionally uses a cane for his chronic pain. Though he can endure his discomfort, navigating the City College campus can be challenging. “For me personally there are a lot of stairs, which is required because there are a lot of floors for all the classes,” says Yaseen, who takes courses in the North Academic Center (NAC). “But the elevators are either out of service or super full, so that can make it difficult to get around.”

Like Yaseen, students consistently complain about the lack of physical accessibility throughout the school, but especially in the NAC and Shepard Hall buildings.

The age of the campus’ infrastructure creates this problem. Though the NAC and other buildings have been updated, the nearly 200-year-old college has its fault lines. “Being such an old building and the elevators being retrofitted to such an old building is probably one of its major concerns,” says Joseph Gaines, director of the disability office at CCNY.

Physical accessibility efforts on campus show some progress, though at this moment they appear stagnant. He also recognizes these continuing issues result from a lack of resources. “I think I’ve seen quite a bit of improvement over the years in that I’ve looked at some of our internal files and spoken to some of the folks who work on accessibility on campus,” Gaines says, referring to renovations to buildings and ramps. “I definitely understand the frustration regarding the NAC escalators and Shepard specifically though.”

The challenges extend beyond the NAC or Shepard Hall. The ongoing construction over the past two years may be problematic for someone using crutches, for example. “As a resident of the Towers starting from St. Nicholas Terrace, it’s very rocky,” says Sydney Roy, a political science and history double major who dorms. She notes that the narrow pathway floods easily when it rains. “The concrete isn’t smooth and that would create issues for someone in a wheelchair, especially if they don’t have an electric wheelchair.”

This lack of accessibility affects people beyond simple mobility. “It’s changed the way I schedule things,” explains Yaseen. “I need to give myself extra time. I won’t schedule things back-to-back. Even if there are interesting events that happen after my class, I have to account for the time that it takes to walk back to my classes.”

Students maintain hope for change, but note it requires more than new construction.

“I want to see a change in mindset,” says Yaseen. “I had my cane and was trying to get on the elevator and people saw me and did nothing.”