The Big Apple! In November 2013, we went to New York City. The travel from Washington DC was around 5 hours with bus company BoltBus. The bus was wheelchair accessible, we were able to go into the bus with the wheelchair and remain in them during the travel. We arrived in NYC around noon, the bus dropped us at Watts and 6 Avenue, from where we took bus to go to the The Whitehall Terminal to take the ferry, from which we could have good view on the Liberty Statue. It was amazing experience! The buses and ferry were wheelchair accessible. Regarding the metro, we were informed that some stations are accessible, but some not and therefore we decided not to bother with the metro and use the buses to commute while in NYC. In the evening we visited the busy Times Square and the astonishing St. Patric's Cathedral. The whole area is easily reached by wheelchair. We were accommodated in Days Inn Hotel, close to Central Park. The hotel has disability accessible rooms. The next day we visited Central Park, Strawberry Fields and one of the most beautiful bridges in the world, Bow Bridge. As it was autumn, the colors of the trees in the park were incredibly beautiful. In NYC in general, my opinion is that accessibility for wheelchair users is still not as good as you can find at other cities in USA. However, it is manageable to see many attractions and witness the spirit of this amazing city. |
Useful links: Staten Island Ferry http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/ferrybus/staten-island-ferry.shtml Public transport and trip planer http://tripplanner.mta.info/MyTrip/ui_web/customplanner/TripPlanner.aspx |