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Blind Man Sues Over Letters He Couldn't Read
By
Garth Johnston
Published Dec 2, 2010
Modified Dec 2, 2010
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By
Garth Johnston
Published Dec 2, 2010
Modified Dec 2, 2010
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Sadly, our first response to hearing the story of Staten Islander Justin Williams, a blind man who is suing the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) for cutting off his benefits and choosing to communicate with him only in typed letters? Typical.
Since 1994, Williams has been using federal assistance for housing given to the disabled and poor to help pay his rent in Staten Island. Until one day the checks stopped coming. Turns out the NYCHA tried to tell him his checks were in jeopardy but, well, they only sent him letters which, being blind, Williams could not read. And according to his lawyer this wasn't the first time they had failed to tell him about vital information (including changes in the location of his NYCHA service center) and constitutes a violation of a number of human rights laws.
The NYCHA claims they didn't know Wiliams was blind, which seems a little hard to believe when he had been in their offices multiple times with his cane and had proven his disability for other government services a number of times.
So how should the NYCHA have contacted Williams? Well, the phone would work for starters. But there are so many other ways! For instance, other groups who work with the blind will often with audio CDs, braille, and audio-enhanced websites. Anyone of which would have been better than sending a blind man typed letters. You'd think in a state with a legally blind governor this wouldn't be a problem...
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nycha
staten island
Garth Johnston
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