Resources
If you or a loved one are dealing with mobility challenges, please see below for some helpful resources.
Lift Assist
Through the Village of Garden City Police Department, the Lift Assist Program helps residents get back on our feet after an unfortunate slip or fall. The GCPD officers and first responders are very kind and understanding.
Phone: (516) 465-4100
HANK: Hire A Neighborhood Kid
HANK Services, a 501(c)(3) organization, provides essential support by pairing vetted teens with seniors who need occasional assistance with daily chores while fostering inter-generational connections.
Fuel Service
This app allows drivers to to review nearby gas stations and make appointments to fill up your tank! A great resource for disabled drivers who need assistance pumping gas.
Website: Fuelservice.org
Barrier Free Design: Rusk Rehabilitation
Barrier-free design focuses on individualized design solutions for safe, accessible, and comfortable home environments. Structural design and specialized durable medical equipment and products can optimize the ability to perform daily tasks. If you are having trouble using stairs in your home or accessing the bathroom, or if you are planning for home construction due to an injury, disability, or aging in place, you can schedule an appointment.
An occupational therapist associated with NYU Langone with expertise in rehabilitation and design will conduct a comprehensive functional evaluation and home environment assessment. Recommendations may include ramps, wheelchair lifts, accessible bathroom and kitchen designs, custom equipment for bathing and toileting, transfer devices (i.e., ceiling lifts or floor lifts), electric beds, strategies for improving safety in the home, and guidelines and preliminary drawings for construction.
Website: nyulangone.org/locations/rusk-rehabilitation/adult-rehabilitation-services/occupational-therapy
Phone: 212-263-6033
National Seating and Mobility
A great location for power wheelchairs and ramps. Additional services include Free Home Evaluation, Preventative Maintenance Plans and Customized Service & Rentals
Tips and Tricks
If you've just started navigating life as someone with limited mobility or as a caretaker for someone with limited mobility, here are some of our tips and tricks to help things run as smoothly as possible.
The most important tip is to always ask questions. The more information you have the better prepared you are.
Dining Out
- Call ahead to the restaurant and let them know you will be attending. Ask for advice on how to coordinate with mobility devices (e.g. is there a best entrance?). If you need assistance please ask the host and assess the situation. Many of our local restaurants and food stores will have remedies to most of our concerns
Medicare
- Read up on what services they provide. Always check the website and brainstorm with your doctor.
- If you need a specific item, always check what Medicare provides.
- Waiting lists in Nassau County can be three or four times the length of those in Suffolk County
- If things are going slow, don't be afraid to reach out to your Federal Legislators. They are here to serve you!
ADA Venues
- Many venues, such as Madison Square Garden, have special seating and lines for those with disabilities. Contact venues directly to find out how best to safely access shows and games that you love.
The Long Fight: Handicap Spaces on 7th Street
Front page of the Garden City Life headline declaring "Access for All"
Originally, 95 percent of handicapped spaces on 7th Street required a mobility-impaired person to cross traffic as all the parking spaces are in the back (Lots 7N and 7S). There were no handicapped spaces on the main block of 7th Street. When a mobility-impaired person was there and they'd have to try to make their way to restaurants and grocery stores, on either the north or south side they would have to cross traffic.
Gerry Kelly and the MIC requested handicapped parking on 7th Street. The Village of Garden City's Traffic Commission denied this request in September 2017 and again on appeal in January 2018. The Chamber of Commerce used their influence to lobby the Trustees to reject the request as a “poor use of the three spaces” and saying it would cost a million dollars.
Gerry Kelly and the Covington and Burling LLC Team in front of the handicap parking sign on 7th Street
After the appeal's denial, a college basketball teammate of Kelly's reached out with an offer for full pro bono assistance from Covington and Burling LLC. The law firm filed a case in Federal Court and the two sides–Kelly and the Village Board of Trustees–were sent to mediation. An agreement was reached in mediation but rejected by the Board of Trustees after replacing the primary village attorney with a specialist law firm, (at a cost of over $100,000). The village's new law firm sent a settlement offer to Covington and Burling a few months later. The Village of Garden City installed three handicapped spaces on 7th Street and improved the back parking lots for those with limited mobility by adding ADA-approved access aisles to all the handicapped spaces.