Georgia and Xiomara's Accessible Date

We started our date by meeting up after class. We had both brainstormed some good places to eat which we thought were accessible and decided our favorite places close to campus were Cafetasia and Crumbs. We went to Cafetasia for dinner but had to request to sit at one of the longer tables because the table built for two had really bulky legs and a wheelchair certainly wouldn’t have been able to pull underneath it.

Then we went across the street to get some cupcakes. That was nice because there were wheelchair friendly curbs around Green Street to cross 8^th street without having to walk back up to University Place. Crumbs was very accessible and the display of cupcakes was right at wheelchair eye level!

We then walked around for a bit to find some sort of entertainment. We walked by a display of pumpkins and thought about carving them in Washington Square Park but decided against it. We also walked by Dashing Diva nail salon and thought about getting our nails done because the place was so easily accessible. We walked up University towards Union Square because we thought we could see a movie. We walked by many places we could not have gone to eat such as Patsy’s Pizza and Argo Tea because they both had steps leading to the entrance.

Only one place had a blue and white wheelchair-accessible sign and a ramp leading up to the door. The restaurant was called Saigon Market, but the sign also used the word ‘handicapped’ instead of ‘disabled’ which made us cringe.

We also walked into Ricky’s (a costume shop) which was fairly accessible except for the low hanging displays of hairbrushes, make up etc. that a wheelchair would surely have bumped into and would have been annoying to maneuver around. We walked by a karaoke place with a ramp that looked fun, but inside there were stairs to one of the private singing rooms and we thought that would be an awkward date activity anyway.

We got to Union Square Park and there was some sort of fair going on which made it very crowded. There were also steps up to a different part of the park so it was a hassle to hang out and relax there with all the people, booths and stairs.

Then we went across the street to go shopping. We went into DSW and Filene’s Basement which were easy to maneuver around because we spotted the elevator as soon as we walked in. We went next door to Forever 21 and that was a nightmare. The entrance doors were so heavy that a person in a wheelchair would need help opening and entering. The elevator was all the way in the back (we had to ask where it was) and there were table displays of jewelry really close together which made it hard to move around. The dressing room was the only open and comfortably accessible space.

It was getting later so we decided to see a movie, Idiot Brother, even though the doors to get into the movie theater were heavy. We went in and bought our tickets and then had to get an attendant to take us upstairs in the elevator because it required a key to unlock the theater floor.

After the movie we wanted to go back to one of our apartments to be alone. Xiomara lives on Lafayette Street so we wanted to take the subway. We knew there must be an elevator down to the subway somewhere in Union Square but we honestly had no idea how to find it. We couldn’t ask the station manager because that would require going down the stairs. Then Xiomara remembered that the only way to get into her dorm was by going to the side of the building. We’re supposed to go to the front of the building to ask the security guard to open the side door for us, but being in a wheelchair going back and forth just to get inside is annoying, so going straight to the side door and ringing the bell which sounds like an alarm, giving the impression that someone is trying to break in (making us the buglers) is our only other option. We’re sure the loud alarm would attract attention; attention a person in a wheelchair tries so much to avoid. We decided to go to Georgia’s apartment instead because it was only a few blocks away. Her building has a ramp up to the front door and she lives on the ground floor so the elevator would not have even been an issue. We ended our date at my apartment where it was easy to maneuver the wheelchair because of the lack of furniture.