NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A3213
SPONSOR: Jensen TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the civil rights law, in relation to requiring certain
handicap accessible playground equipment for children with disabilities
PURPOSE::
This bill makes New York State Park's playgrounds more handicap accessi-
ble requiring suitable playground equipment that can be utilized by
children that have disabilities.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS::
Section 1 amends the civil rights law by adding a new section 79-q that
requires all New York State Parks with a playground shall contain one
handicap accessible swing set.
Section 2 sets forth the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION::
One of the most important issues the state must focus on is helping
those in need, especially special needs children and their families.
Last year, the Long Island Home Builders Care Inc. volunteers built five
Handicapped Accessible Children's Play Houses and donated them to a
Group Home for children with special needs, two town parks, a school,
and a private home for a young girl that they have been helping in many
ways. Many families of special needs children visit parks across the
state and they are faced with little to no wheelchair or handicap acces-
sible play equipment to play on. This leaves handicapped children often
feeling excluded from their friends and their peers as they watch from
the sidelines. Further efforts must be made to ensure that all parks and
playgrounds in New York State Parks have at least one swing set that is
handicap accessible. Not providing suitable equipment for children with
disabilities is an infringement of their civil rights and should be
considered disability discrimination. All children in our state should
have the right to play, regardless of their disability.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY::
A9923 of 2021/22
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS::
To be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE::
This act shall take effect on December 31, 2025.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
3213
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 2, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. JENSEN -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Tourism, Parks, Arts and Sports Development
AN ACT to amend the civil rights law, in relation to requiring certain
handicap accessible playground equipment for children with disabili-
ties
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The civil rights law is amended by adding a new section
2 79-r to read as follows:
3 § 79-r. Handicap accessible playground equipment. Pursuant to section
4 forty of this chapter, all state parks with a playground shall contain
5 one swing set which is accessible to children with a disability for
6 their use and enjoyment. The handicap accessible swing set must include
7 a wheelchair accessible platform swing and a high backed full support
8 seat. For the purposes of this section the term "disability" shall have
9 the same meaning as defined in section two hundred ninety-two of the
10 executive law. To the extent practicable, such accessible playground
11 equipment shall be incorporated into the layout of the existing play-
12 ground or proposed playground plan.
13 § 2. This act shall take effect December 31, 2025.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06081-01-3
