Handicapped Need Not Apply For Membership
YMCA WANTS TO CONTINUE TO DISCRIMINATE AGAINST
THE INFIRM AND CRIPPLED OF GREENWICH
Heartless Greenwich YMCA Head Rebecca Fretty And Her Insensitive Board Chairman Bob Goergen Wants To Build New Spin And Aerobics Studios Instead Of Bringing The Building Into Compliance With The Americans with Disabilities Act.
Staff Writer
Article Launched: 11/07/2008 09:18:28 AM EST
GREENWICH - The Greenwich Family YMCA has requested a five-year extension to complete its $39 million renovation and construction project.
Escalating construction costs and lack of money will force completion of the new gymnasium, the second phase of the two-part renovation, well past the original target date of summer 2009, officials said.
The YMCA is requesting the approval of the Planning and Zoning Commission for more time and a new interim plan to maintain facility operations while construction continues, according to documents submitted by Greenwich attorney Christopher Bristol of Gilbride, Tusa, Last & Spellane LLC, the firm representing the nonprofit organization.
The approved project, which includes the renovation of the 96-year-old building at 50 E. Putnam Ave., as well as construction of two underground parking lots, an Olympic aquatics center and a gymnasium, was slated to be finished by June 2009......
.....In the original proposal approved in 2002, the Planning and Zoning Commission stipulated that the project not exceed five years of construction. With construction beginning in 2004, the YMCA is approaching that deadline, according to the document......
......ADA requirements have come into sharper focus recently as the family of a man who uses a wheelchair has fought to get a temporary ramp installed while renovations are carried out. On Monday, YMCA officials announced that the facility will not be handicap accessible until renovations are complete.
The YMCA has completed some of its renovations, such as the new Olympic aquatics center, which opened in November 2007. A new basketball court also opened Monday. YMCA officials also expect a warm-water therapy pool, new spin and aerobics studios, a teen fitness center and childcare classrooms completed by June 2009, according to an e-mail sent Wednesday by Ashleigh Rowe, communications director for the YMCA.....
.....Calls were not returned from Greenwich Family YMCA officials or their attorneys Wednesday.
PLEASE SEE:
Rebecca Fretty Is Making Sure That
There Will Be No Wheelchair Basketball Games At
The Greenwich YMCA
To Rebecca Fretty,
apparently "headless and brain dead"
Head of the Greenwich YMCA
Ms Fretty:
Obviously you don't belong running any town facility if you ignore the LAWS REGARDING HANDICAPPED ACCESSIBILITY. Not only are you violating a mandated code, you can/will be sued.
There is no loophole to crawl through on this one. This was set in stone a long time ago....and YOU ARE THE REASON, Ms. Fretty. People tend to forget about those with disabilities. That is until they personally become disabled. So, every building must abide by the regulations..ALL BUILDINGS..the tall, short, the ones with and without windows....those with steeples, and those with people. Even those building which hold criminals. Yes. Its true.....
.....Do you consider your "little" idea about sending wheelchair bound people over to Rye and Darien the SOLUTION? Are you going to personally drive these people? Or maybe give them a gentle little push down a hill and aim them in that direction? What the hell is wrong with you? How are they supposed to get there?
Are you so completely clueless, that you think the Town of Greenwich will not act on the behalf of their residents? Think again. You are violating building and zoning codes as well......
COMMENTS:
It Is Quite Possible That The Residents Of This Town Will Not Be So Generous To The Greenwich YMCA Next Time They Have Their Hand Sticking Out For Donations.
I Think There Are Quite A Few Residents With Handicapped Stickers In Their Car Windows Who Donated To The YMCA's Capital Campaign Just Because The New Building Would Be Accessible By The Town's Crippled Citizens.
Why Is It That All Of The Other YMCA's In The Area Have Provided Access And Programs For The Handicapped, While The Greenwich YMCA Has Turned A Blind Eye To The Infirm.
Maybe, The YMCA Can Be So Insensitive, Because The Town Building Department Has Failed To Properly Do It's Job At The Putnam Avenue Building. The Building Department's Temporary Certificate Of Occupancy Should Have Had A Date Certain Completion Time For Handicap Access.
Long Ago The Greenwich YWCA Provided Handicap Access. So Why Can't The YMCA Do The Same......
Despite pleas from a family to put in a temporary wheelchair accessible ramp, the Greenwich Family YMCA said the new facility will likely not be handicap accessible until a $39 million renovation and construction project is complete in summer 2009.....
......In the statement, new President and CEO Rebecca Fretty, who took office two weeks ago, recommended individuals with disabilities use other wheelchair-accessible facilities until the entire construction project is complete.
"In speaking with my counterparts at the Greenwich YWCA, Rye, N.Y., YMCA and DarienYMCA, all three facilities are currently wheelchair accessible and available.......
COMMENT:
The Greenwich YMCA Is Morally Wrong.
The Greenwich YMCA Wants Handicapped Greenwich Residents To Leave Go To Darien In Order To Use The YMCA ?????
Is The Greenwich YMCA Going To Pay To Transport One Of These Handicapped Individuals Back And Forth From The Darien YMCA?
.....Citing the need to confer with management at the non-profit organization, which will decide what course of action to take, Jonathan Wells, the attorney for the YMCA, said he would contact the family of Luis Gonzalez-Bunster by next week, according to Frank Peluso, the family's attorney.
Gonzalez-Bunster, who is disabled, sought to train for an upcoming triathalon at the YMCA but was unable to because the building is not accessible to the handicapped.
Peluso contacted the YMCA, at 50 E. Elm Street, Oct. 24 to demand they provide at least a temporary ramp to the Y's new state-of-the-art Olympic-size swimming pool, which opened last November and is not accessible to the handicapped......
Shame, Shame, Shame
On The
Greenwich YMCA
The family of the town man who could not access the Greenwich Family YMCA because the building is not wheelchair accessible, is now pressuring the nonprofit organization to install a temporary ramp or face the possibility of being shut down.
Luis Gonzalez-Bunster's family contacted Greenwich attorney Frank Peluso, who said the facility is in violation of town, state and federal laws for not providing access to people with disabilities, according to the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Town of Greenwich building code.
"They are required to have access," Peluso said.....
....William Marr, town building inspector, previously said the town issued the temporary certificate of occupancy, often requested by the owner or architect, because making the building wheelchair accessible was a part of the original proposal and was just not yet completed, he said.
The YMCA declined to comment on Peluso's letter ......
.....the Gonzalez-Bunster family, the issue is simple. If there is one person who is denied access to a public building, it is a problem.
"I don't understand how the town gave them a (certificate of occupancy). It's very suspect," said Luis's father, Rolando Gonzalez-Bunster.
There are other problems, the family says, including the lack of a curb cut for wheelchairs next to the handicapped-parking space in the newly constructed parking lot.
"There are so many problems with this," he said.....
Comment:
Hats Off To Meredith Blake And The Greenwich Time For Continueing To Cover This Important Story And Publishing Letters To The Editors About This Issue.
The Other Newspapers And Citizen Journalists Of Greenwich Have Wrongly Ignored The Lack Of Handicapped Access To The New Greenwich YMCA Building.
The YMCA Came To ALL Of The Citizens Of Greenwich And Asked For Construction Variances And ALL Of This Community Said Yes You Can Have Them.
The YMCA Constantly Seeks Out Funds, Grants And Tax Dollars From ALL Members Of This Community And Therefore Should Serve ALL Members Of This Community.
The YMCA's Wrong Headed Idea That The Crippled Citizens Of Greenwich Should Be Served Last Is Abhorrent At Best.
Letter To The Greenwich Time Editor
To the editor:
Once again, we can see the discrimination that continues in town against people with disabilities ( "Man fighting for YMCA access, Greenwich Time, Oct. 20). We have been the silent minority, but things are about to change.
We recently formed the First Selectman's Advisory Committee for People With Disabilities. The mission is to advise town officials on matters pertaining to the rights and needs of citizens with disabilities. We will also advocate for improvements to make the town more accessible for people with disabilities.
The YMCA building expansion should never have been given a temporary certificate of occupancy. Why should some people be allowed to use this facility when others are turned away?
When the builders at Hamilton Avenue School did not comply with the disability regulations by placing the light switches at the incorrect height, they were told that they must be lowered. Shouldn't this apply to the Y?
It is obvious that individuals with disabilities are not a priority. The YMCA Web site says "the Y has something for everyone," and "we offer programs for everyone in the family." I guess that means that people with disabilities are not included with everyone.
Why should the disabled have to wait? If one of the aims of the expansion was to provide access for the disabled, then the accessibility to the expansion should have been done first. Evidently, it is more important to have a new pool than it is to allow access for all.
The YMCA has now shown people with disabilities that they are not a priority. It has discriminated against many people who just want to use the same facilities as others in this town.
I hope that the YMCA will find some way to make this area accessible immediately, and that the town will consider whether its temporary certificate of occupancy should be withdrawn.
Carol Kana
Riverside
The writer is a member of First Selectman's Advisory Committee for People With Disabilities.
After a little over a year at the helm, Bernie Mucci is out as the CEO and president of the Greenwich Family YMCA, leaving behind a $160,000 per year job and questions about his departure.
A spokeswoman for the nonprofit recreational facility characterized Mucci's departure as a retirement and referred to a press release that she said the YMCA put out on Sept. 22 announcing the change.
Rebecca Fretty, a longtime town resident and marketing executive with ties to the Junior League of Greenwich, will take over the top job Oct. 20.
....Messages seeking comment from Bob Goergen, chairman of the YMCA's board of directors, were left Monday on his cell phone and with Rowe, who said she would be the only person responding to questions on the matter.
When asked about the departure of Mucci, who was 61 at the time he was hired, Rowe said in an earlier interview that "not much notice" was given by him about his plans to retire.....
....YMCA board members Charles Tyler Sr. and Hilary Pearl are serving as interim co-CEOs until Fretty starts later this month, Rowe said.Rowe said she did not have information on the search process for a new CEO.
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