The lawsuit is against Floral Park Village for alleged ADA violations

The metal rail of a wheelchair lift winds down the narrow stairs of the Floral Park public library to the basement. A few rust-colored spots on a light brown paint job suggest it has been used before, but not too much.

On March 2, Nadia Holubnyczyj-Ortiz discovered the elevator was out of order, according to allegations in a lawsuit filed in federal court earlier this month. Holubnyczyj-Ortiz had visited New York Attorney General Leticia James, whose Instagram page described her visit to the library as “a conversation about the impact of social media on our children and the legislation to address this widespread problem ‘.

Holubnyczyj-Ortiz, who uses a wheelchair, was carried downstairs by her husband and even posed for a photo with James and others, including Legis. Carrié Solages (D-Valley Stream), which later appeared on the Instagram page.

In her lawsuit, filed Nov. 11 in the U.S. District Court Eastern District of New York in Central Islip, Holubnyczyj-Ortiz alleges that serious injuries she suffered after the event were caused by a “hidden step” in the library, in violation of the American rules. with a disability law. She is seeking $10 million in punitive and compensatory damages, as well as class action status for alleged ADA violations at the library and other properties owned or managed by Floral Park Village, including the village hall and parks and recreation facilities. The lawsuit also seeks an injunction to force the village to comply with the ADA.

Holubnyczyj-Ortiz, a community advocate and advisor on issues affecting people with disabilities, filed the legal action “on behalf of herself and all villagers with mobility disabilities who are discriminated against and subjected to dangerous conditions due to the access barriers. at public facilities, sidewalks and pedestrian rights in the Village of Floral Park,” the complaint states.

Daniel Johnston, the Syosset-based attorney representing Holubnyczyj-Ortiz, said in an interview that the village has failed to create a transition plan to make it generally more accessible to people with disabilities, and is not in succeeded in setting up a community liaison to resolve the issues. Resolve ADA issues.

“The injury is merely the ultimate unavoidable consequence of three decades of not following clear federal mandates,” Johnston told Newsday. “It becomes a matter of disabled people being literally locked out of their local government.”

Floral Park Village Administrator Gerard Bamrick, who is named as a co-defendant in the lawsuit, said in a voice message that “the village does not comment on pending litigation. We will respond in detail in due course.”

In an email, village attorney John Ryan declined to comment on the case.

When the library event ended in March, Holubnyczyj-Ortiz, her husband and other attendees left the basement through a door to the parking lot, according to the lawsuit. As the door opened outward, Holubnyczyj-Ortiz, back in her wheelchair, hit a “hidden step,” the lawsuit alleges.

According to the suit, she was thrown from the wheelchair and suffered multiple broken bones, facial lacerations, a dislocated shoulder and internal bleeding. Holubnyczyj-Ortiz also lost consciousness, the complaint alleges.

Her accident was not the first such accident, according to the library documents included in Holubnyczyj-Ortiz’s lawsuit. A 2006 accident report to the library cited in the complaint described a woman falling on the stairs and suffering facial lacerations that bled “profoundly.”

On Monday, the threshold looked as it does in a photo cited in court documents, and there was nothing to alert potential users that the wheelchair lift was malfunctioning. Another photo in the suit shows the elevator with a sign on it: “OUT OF OPERATION.”