Research

Governor Cuomo announcing the executive order of NYS-Pause. We can read "Valve closed" and Pause is in the form of an acrostic: P for Policies, A for Assure, U for Uniform, S for Safety, E for Everyone.
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On March 22 2020, with an exponential rate of new COVID cases in the New York State, Governor Cuomo signed two documents: The executive order “New York State on PAUSE” which contains a set of 10 rules for the general population, including closing all non-essential business and banning the gatherings… Continue Reading New York State Pause Executive Order and Mathilda’s Law

Screenshot of website of the NYC Office of the Mayor with photo showing Mayor Adams making an announcement with several people behind him and a headline that reads "Mayor Adams Announces Plan to Provide Care for Individuals Suffering From Untreated Severe Mental Illness Across NYC."
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Former police captain Eric Adams won the 2021 New York City mayoral election, in year two of the pandemic, with a “war on crime” campaign that has often manifested as a war on unhoused and mentally disabled people. Unhoused people had been forced into parks and streets as a result… Continue Reading Scapegoating Unhoused and “Mentally Ill” People 

An animated, anthropomorphized mouse newscaster shown on a laptop, with a chiron that reads "New York is now the epicenter of the crisis."
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2 Lizards, the brilliant eight-part series of short animations, captures the overwhelming sense of anxiety and isolation — as well as the occasional sense of shared community — that so many NYC residents experienced during the first few months of the pandemic when the city was the epicenter of the… Continue Reading 2 Lizards animated series

Screenshot of tweets from @JaiVirdi. Main tweet says: "I've been holding off on explaining what's going on, but I guess this is a good time. During my October surgery for endometriosis, the surgeons found an ovarian tumor & I've been diagnosed with cancer. The pain worsens every day. This second surgery was supposed to help." Quoted tweet says: "*in tears* What I was worrying would happen, happened: increasing covid hospitalizations forced the hospital to cancel my surgery. Will be suffering for a while longer, as there's no indication when surgery will be rescheduled. I'm just...hopeless. numb. I don't know."
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Disability historian and activist Jaipreet Virdi tweeted in January 2022 about the postponement of her surgery to remove a cancerous ovarian tumor as a result of a new wave of Covid-19 hospitalizations. Elective surgeries, and sometimes critical surgeries, have routinely been postponed in hospitals across the U.S. during the pandemic.… Continue Reading Covid-19 Hospitalizations Lead to Surgical Delays

Screenshot of tweet by @MiaMingus that says: "All Biden's words have done is make clear--abundantly clear--what we already have known: that we are on our own for the pandemic and the little that still remain (for some), will be gone soon (obvi wealthy folks will be able access whatever they want whenever as per usual)."
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The September 18, 2022 episode of 60 Minutes showed President Biden remarking “the pandemic is over” at an auto show in Detroit. “No one’s wearing masks. Everybody seems to be in pretty good shape.” Disability activists on Twitter immediately responded. The following day, Mia Mingus commented, “We are on our… Continue Reading “The Pandemic is Over”? Disability Twitter Responds to President Biden

Screenshot of YouTube video showing 6 people in conversation.
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How has life changed during this pandemic for New York City’s deaf community? When everyone wears face masks, how does that affect interactions? When is information fully accessible and how can communication be better? Are there signs that are new, or signs that have taken on new meaning? Are there… Continue Reading NYC Deaf Life During the Pandemic

ADAPT activists holding a sit-in in front of New York State Assembly Carl E. Heastie's office
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Disabled activists of Downstate New York ADAPT gathered and held a sit-in from March 14th to March 18, 2022, in front of the office of Assembly member Carl E. Heastie in the Bronx to oppose the restrictions imposed on Medicaid-funded home care eligibility in the final state budget of 2020.… Continue Reading A Sit-in to Oppose Restrictions on Medicaid-Funded Home Care Eligibility

protestors with signs saying "Elevators are for everyone", "Elevators now", "Invest in Queens riders".
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32 years after the ADA was passed, the transit stations of the borough of Queens still offers no accessibility by ramps or elevators. One-third of the stations, or 21 stations on 81 are accessible in Queens. Riders Alliance joined up with elected officials on March 3rd 2022 to demand more… Continue Reading Protest in Queens to Demand a Fully Accessible Subway System

Screenshot of NYC Department of Education website with a section entitled "More Special Education Support Will Be Available for Students with Disabilities" (full text available at link in post).
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On July 8, 2021 Chancellor Meisha Ross Porter discussed the Academic Recovery Plan on the NYC Department of Education (DOE) website. Acknowledging that disabled students had been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, the DOE plan included the following bullet points: We will launch afterschool and Saturday programs for students with IEPs to… Continue Reading NYC Department of Education Academic Recovery Plan

Screenshot of cover of report: "Spread Thin: Survey Reveals Students Without Special Education Instruction" featuring a child curled up in a box sucking their thumb.
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Special Support Services, an advocacy group for disabled students and their families, conducted a survey of parents in 2020 about student educational experiences during the pandemic. Faced with a lack of data and information from the DOE, the advocacy group distributed a 42-question survey in English, Spanish, Chinese and Korean and… Continue Reading Special Support Services Advocacy Group

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