Disabled sue MTA to keep Able-Ride

A group of disabled bus riders filed a federal lawsuit against the MTA Wednesday in an 11th-hour attempt to stave off planned cuts of Nassau's Able-Ride program that threaten to leave some customers unable to get to school or to work.

About 100 disabled commuters, their families and advocates rallied at the steps of Nassau Supreme Court in Mineola as attorneys announced the lawsuit, which seeks an emergency injunction and restraining order against the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's planned cuts of Able-Ride. The service provides door-to-door bus transportation for the disabled and elderly in Nassau County.

U.S. District Court Judge Joanna Seybert will hear arguments on the case Friday.

Under the cuts, scheduled to take effect Monday, door-to-door service will only be provided for people living within three-quarters of a mile of an existing Long Island Bus route. Attorneys for the disabled said Wednesday that the cuts would especially affect riders living in the Town of Oyster Bay, where bus service is scarce.

"The new Able-Ride transportation policy is fully consistent with the American with Disabilities Act's requirements for paratransit services," Long Island Bus spokesman Jerry Mikorenda said in a statement.

Despite that assertion, the suit alleges that the agency failed to give proper notice to, and get sufficient input from, affected riders before deciding on the cuts.

It also argues that the MTA's overall planned service cuts, which look to fill a $400-million budget gap, disproportionately affect disabled riders.

"Non-disabled people may lose some access to service. However, they will not lose all of their services, as will be the case with many people with disabilities," said Aaron Liebowitz, executive director of Adults and Children with Learning and Developmental Disabilities, the Bethpage-based organization that filed the lawsuit along with United Cerebral Palsy of Nassau County.

"I depend on them daily going to and from work, plus I use it for all of my medical appointments and also for social and recreation," said Meryl Jackelow of Westbury, who works at United Cerebral Palsy of Nassau and is a plaintiff in the suit. "It's very hard for me to get to a regular bus stop."Attorney Seth Stein, of Garden City, noted that, just five days out from the cuts taking effect, the MTA has not disclosed what addresses no longer will get door-to-door service.

"They're letting people go right to the edge of a cliff," Stein said.

Another plaintiff, Anthony Celardo, 20, of Syosset, uses Able-Ride to get together with his friends and family and visit his orthodontist. Celardo, who has cerebral palsy and uses a computer device to communicate, said losing the service would make getting around "extremely difficult."

"They should have been the first ones to say, 'Look how many people are using this service for important things. We can't cut this,' " Celardo said.