Hispanic Society Museum & Library

This place needs to improve its accessibility. My husband is in a power wheelchair because his mobility below his neck is very limited. We went to the museum on a cold day - it was 26 degrees outside. We waited at the first accessibility lift, and I pressed the button multiple times. Waited. Nobody came. I walked into the building and asked for assistance to operate the accessibility lift. It took the staff 5 minutes to get ready and get to him. The first lift worked fine. However, there's another lift in front of the building entrance. My husband wasn't able to get over the snow to get on the lift, as the snowy path to the accessibility lift was not shoveled. We went back to the first lift and the lift wouldn't move. The staff tried to make the lift work. My husband was sitting in his wheelchair in 26 degrees for 30 minutes. People in a wheelchair don't have as good circulation as people who constantly move around. He was getting numb, that he couldn't even use his hands to control the joystick of his wheelchair. I was about to call 911, so someone can get him and his wheelchair out of that lift. The staff insisted on kept trying themselves. Thankfully the lift eventually started moving and my husband got out of it. His hands were numb for 30 minutes that he couldn't "drive" his wheelchair by himself.

The staff told us this accessibility gets stuck often on rainy and snowy days. I hope they can solve this problem soon, so another person in a wheelchair won't need to be stranded on that lift in a 26 degrees weather for 30 minutes.