NYC Parks Department Agrees to Undertake Capital Project to Make the Van Cortlandt House Museum More Accessible to Visitors With Disabilities
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced today the settlement of a civil rights lawsuit against the NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF PARKS & RECREATION (“PARKS”) and the HISTORIC HOUSE TRUST (“HHT”). The settlement resolves violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) at the Van Cortlandt House Museum in Van Cortlandt Park, in the Bronx, New York.
“The ADA applies to all places of public accommodation, even those that predate our Declaration of Independence,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “The settlement approved today will expand access at the Van Cortlandt House Museum so more visitors, including people with disabilities, can experience this important piece of New York City history.”
According to the Complaint filed in Manhattan federal court, the Agreement entered by the court, and information from the Van Cortlandt House Museum:
The Van Cortlandt House was built in 1748 as the residence of the Van Cortlandt family. During the Revolutionary War, General George Washington stayed at the House in 1776 and 1783. At the end of the nineteenth century, the Van Cortlandt family sold the property to the City of New York. The City has operated the property as a museum since 1897, in coordination with the HHT. A Cottage was added to the property in 1910 that now serves as a welcome center and gift shop. The Van Cortlandt House Museum aspires to recreate the furnishings and decoration of the home from 1749 to 1823.
The settlement, in the form of a court-approved stipulation and order (the “Agreement”), was entered today by U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken and requires PARKS, among other things, to embark on a long-term capital project that seeks to provide barrier-free access to the basement and the first floor of the House. In the near term, the Agreement obliges PARKS to remove barriers to accessibility at the Cottage, many of which have already been removed. After the United States issued its findings letter to PARKS regarding the violations of the ADA, PARKS installed a wooden ramp that for the first time provided access to the Cottage. The Agreement obliges PARKS to maintain this ramp pending completion of the broader capital project. While providing physical access to the second and third floors of the House is not readily achievable due to architectural constraints, the ADA requires places of public accommodation to explore other methods of accessibility. As a result, the Agreement requires PARKS to offer iPads or similar electronic devices at the Cottage that provide a virtual 360-degree tour of the entirety of the House.
Mr. Clayton thanked the Disability Rights Section of the Department of Justice, and particularly its architectural staff, for their assistance in this matter.
Since President George H.W. Bush signed the ADA into law in 1990, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York has played a significant role in bringing numerous New York City institutions into compliance with the ADA and its regulations. The Office’s enforcement efforts include, among many others, Yankee Stadium, Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, the Shubert Theaters, the Nederlander Theaters, the Jujamcyn Theaters, Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Opera, the Apollo Theater, the Rainbow Room, The Vessel at Hudson Yards, and dozens of hotels and restaurants.
To file a complaint alleging that any place of public accommodation within the Southern District of New York is not accessible to persons with disabilities, use the Civil Rights Complaint Form available on the United States Attorney’s Office’s website, https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/civil-rights. Complaints should be emailed or sent by mail to:
U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York
86 Chambers Street, 3rd Floor
New York, New York 10007
Attention: Chief, Civil Rights Unit
The case is being handled by the Office’s Civil Rights Unit in the Civil Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney David J. Kennedy is in charge of the case.
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