Mayor de Blasio, Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and other “progressive” city politicians are helping Uber snub the disabled, a new ad campaign will charge Monday.
“Progressives won City Hall vowing to end the tale of two cities, but they gave themselves a raise while giving wheelchair users the cold shoulder by being silent as Uber fails to provide access,” says the narrator in the 30-second spot (above) sponsored by the new advocacy group United for Equal Access, referring to a raise package for all elected city officials approved by the mayor and City Council in February.
The ad — which will run locally for several weeks on NY1, Fox News and other cable news stations — opens with images of the mayor, Mark-Viverito, Public Advocate Letitia James and Comptroller Scott Stringer.
It then shows footage of a grinning de Blasio and Mark-Viverito being cheered by their City Hall colleagues, with a caption reading: “30,000 Ubers in New York City. 0 Wheelchair Accessible.”
“These so-called progressives condone discrimination against wheelchair users,” the narrator adds. “It’s time our elected officials represent all New Yorkers — not just those who can walk.”
A previous flurry of related ads by other disability-rights advocacy groups were mostly direct attacks on the popular car-service app.
The new spot is aimed at lighting a fire under the city’s leadership to take steps needed to mandate that Uber provide wheelchair-accessible rides, according to Dustin Jones, who heads United for Equal Access.
“The city’s leaders are doing nothing to stop Uber’s discrimination,” Jones, who uses a wheelchair and whose image is featured in the spot, told The Post. “Elected officials need to do their jobs and protect the civil rights of all New Yorkers, including wheelchair users.”
Uber insisted Sunday that it has helped expand transportation options for New Yorkers with disabilities “because our app quickly and reliably connects the limited number of drivers in accessible vehicles to riders on the street who need them.”
De Blasio spokeswoman Rosemary Boeglin said Sunday that the administration is “exploring avenues to secure accessibility improvements in the for-hire vehicle fleet,” while noting it has already taken steps to ensure half the city’s yellow-cab fleet is wheelchair accessible by 2020.
Mark-Viverito spokesman Eric Koch said the speaker and the rest of the Council are “committed to working with stakeholders to develop a comprehensive taxi system that will not only quickly and efficiently connect accessible vehicles and riders, but that will incentivize drivers to offer accessible service.”