Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled

Tomorrow, Saturday July 26, 2025! 

No cuts to Medicaid. Enforce the Americans with Disabilities Act. Nothing about us without us. 

ADA35: The Future Is Disabled - Protest, March and Rally. Join us on Saturday! For more info: ada35nyc.com

We are excited to invite you to Brooklyn Disability Pride Month this Wednesday July 23rd from 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. at Brooklyn Borough Hall (209 Joralemon Street).

Please RSVP here: https://tinyurl.com/brooklyndisabilitypride2025

"Healthy Minds Healthy Kids" will be holding a rally next week (Thursday 7/24/2025) at 11AM at the NY Foundling in Manhattan. The purpose is to urge NYS leaders to cover the gaps caused by the impending federal cuts to children’s healthcare.

This week Thursday, July 17, 2025
FPI Briefing: New York's Response to Federal Budget
Register for the zoom here - 
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/mrgSR3hoQ9Cca3Io8jSENA#/registration

Attached is the Fiscal Policy Institute's memo on the impact of the federal cuts to Medicaid and SNAP, plus a recording of last Thursday's briefing accessible via Youtube. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsTn2Keejzg

"How federal Medicaid cuts would impact disabled New Yorkers"
https://www.btpm.org/local/2025-06-25/disabilities-beat-how-federal-medicaid-cuts-would-impact-disabled-new-yorkers

Text Mayor Adams: Stop Delaying Preschool SpEd!
Use # 917-909-2288 and say "More than 7,000 preschoolers are waiting for one or more of their legally mandated services, such as speech therapy, to begin. The City must do more to support preschoolers with disabilities!"

Get out and vote today, June 24, 2025, for the NYC Mayoral Primary!
Need help making a plan to vote?
Email Chana Bleznick at cbleznick@bcid.org

The Insurance Scheme That Could Leave New Yorkers With Massive Debt A company with a history of lawsuits and unpaid claims is now managing health insurance for thousands of New Yorkers on the taxpayers’ dime.

“I think it’s shocking that the Hochul administration would allow taxpayer money to be spent on these scam artists,” said Assemblymember Phara Souffrant Forrest."
Read more here -

New York City opens cooling centers when the National Weather Service issues a heat advisory with a forecasted heat index of:

95 degrees or higher for two or more days, or;
100 degrees for any period of time.

Find a cooling center near you - https://finder.nyc.gov/coolingcenters/

Last week, BCID's own, Katinka Neuhof, shared her beautiful photos from a recent protest that BCID and other advocates attended.

Join us for a small rally!! 
Monday, June 23, 2025 from 8:45 - 9:15 AM (prompt)
In front of 2 Broadway (Rain or Shine!)
We want subway elevators to be maintained and we want notices when elevators are not working!

Join us! BCID is launching the #MaskTransit campaign for the summer! Join us at Atlantic Terminal across from the Barclays Center on Monday, June 16th, 2025 from 4:30 PM to 6 PM EST as we hand out KN95 masks and leaflets. 
Click here to learn more - https://www.facebook.com/events/561106528876620

Join us! BCID is launching the #MaskTransit campaign for the summer! Join us at Atlantic Terminal across from the Barclays Center on Monday, June 16th, 2025 from 4:30 PM to 6 PM EST as we hand out KN95 masks and leaflets. 
Click here to learn more - https://www.facebook.com/events/561106528876620

Join us! BCID is launching the #MaskTransit campaign for the summer! Join us at Atlantic Terminal across from the Barclays Center on Monday, June 16th, 2025 from 4:30 PM to 6 PM EST as we hand out KN95 masks and leaflets. 
Click here to learn more - https://www.facebook.com/events/561106528876620

Join the New York Public Radio Community Advisory Board on Wednesday, June 18, at 6:30pm over Zoom for our first-ever dedicated forum for listeners with disabilities and those who support them.

More information and register:
🔗 disability.nyprcab.org
📞 (347) 746-1430

Call to Action: Don’t Let the Government Turn Back the Clock on Disability Rights!
If we don’t speak up, this rollback will take effect 7/15/25
Click here to take action - https://ablesc.salsalabs.org/doeaccess2025-doe-hq-2025-0015-0001/index.html

Disabled Americans are being written out of access- demand that Congress stop the U.S. Department of Energy from shutting us out!
Take action here - https://ablesc.salsalabs.org/doeaccess2025/index.html?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=11f56110-482b-4b35-aa63-ea49a3443903

Disabled Americans are being written out of access- demand that Congress stop the U.S. Department of Energy from shutting us out!
Take action here - https://ablesc.salsalabs.org/doeaccess2025/index.html?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=11f56110-482b-4b35-aa63-ea49a3443903

Call to Action: Don’t Let the Government Turn Back the Clock on Disability Rights!
If we don’t speak up, this rollback will take effect 7/15/25
Click here to take action - https://ablesc.salsalabs.org/doeaccess2025-doe-hq-2025-0015-0001/index.html

TAKE ACTION: Tell Albany That Assisted Suicide Is Still Suicide! Bill S.2445-Hoylman-Sigal/A.995-Paulin would reverse New York's long-standing ban on assisted suicide, allowing physicians to prescribe lethal drugs to certain terminally ill adults that request them.

“We have already seen in other places that people with disabilities are offered assisted suicide in place of home care, caregiver respite, or home accessibility modifications,” said Alex Thompson, Director of Advocacy at @NYAIL . 

An NYC transit success!
"Sidewalk-bus loading platforms upgraded at 17 NYC bus stops to help visually impaired commuters"
https://www.amny.com/nyc-transit/bus-loading-platforms-help-visually-impaired-nyc/

Opinion: PPL’s health insurance is a raw deal for workers. The state must change that. — Queens Daily Eagle “New York’s rocky overhaul of its Medicaid consumer directed home care program puts 280,000 elderly and disabled New Yorkers at risk. It also risks the health coverage of 400,000 workers.”

"The transition to a single FI is controversial – but this issue shouldn’t be. Caregivers for elderly and disabled New Yorkers have a right to health care"

Even in the rain, BCID and other advocates are still fighting for disability rights.

A large group of people with disabilities seated at a conference table listening to a presentation

Three people smiling standing at the front of a presentation room

Two people standing next to each other looking at the camera and smiling

Check out all of these people at Staten Island Center for Independent Living working together to protect Medicaid!

We are happy to share the following from our friend and colleague, Jean Ryan. 

Join us! All are welcome!
Fix the elevators, Settle the case!

Rally for Elevator Maintenance!
Monday, April 28, 2025
8:45-9:15 AM
Meet in front of 2 Broadway, New York, NY (MTA headquarters)

Check out these photos from a recent protest BCID participated in in Staten Island. Do you recognize anyone in these pics?

CDPAP Transition Deadline Extended After Legal Push by Disability Advocates | Fingerlakes1.com A federal judge has approved an agreement to extend critical deadlines in New York’s overhaul of its in-home care program, following legal action from consumer advocates representing thousands of disabled and elderly residents. The move aims to prevent gaps in services after widespread complaints of a chaotic rollout. The agreement, finalized April 10, gives participants… MoreCDPAP Transition Deadline Extended After Legal Push by Disability Advocates

“Even though we have more time… the damage this rushed and chaotic transition has caused can never be repaired" - Marisol Getchius, advocate and co-plaintiff with BCID

New deadlines, old anguish part of saga for home care program in New York State Facing a federal lawsuit from six patients in dire need of the CDPAP, attorneys representing the state Department of Health agreed to a stipulation Thursday. Patients now have until May 15 to sign up with PPL. Caregivers have until June 6.

"On March 27, six CDPAP patients, as well as the Brooklyn Center for the Disabled and the Regional Center for Independent Living, sued McDonald in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of New York."

Commentary: For independent living centers, CDPAP is about care, not money The network of disability-led organizations served as far more than "fiscal intermediaries," and the service they provided is in jeopardy.

"The state and PPL have taken no responsibility for their own failures, blaming everyone else — unscrupulous fiscal intermediaries, disabled people, their workers and even the media — for their own botched rollout." - Lindsay Miller, NYAIL Executive Director