The building’s owner installed a wheelchair ramp when Familiars took over the space in 2019.
“They could have told me they felt bad” and done nothing about it, “but they fixed it that day,” Macomber-Dubs said.ĭanny McColgan, one of the owners of Familiars, said the building dates to 1932. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, customers pick up their orders and eat outside Macomber-Dubs, a frequent customer, said staff were putting his orders at the top of a small staircase that leads into the front door, but when he asked management to move the pickup spot to the top of the nearby wheelchair ramp, they quickly added that location as an option for all customers. The restaurant and cafe Familiars on Strong Avenue is an example of accessibility done right, he said. The city’s ongoing redesign of Main Street represents “a really good step toward progress,” Macomber-Dubs said, and city planning officials have been open to listening to the concerns of people with disabilities, but not every accessibility problem is the city’s responsibility. … I understand why they don’t, but one of my goals for this rally is to start a conversation where they start making changes or at least start trying to make these changes.” “You can’t just build a ramp in front of every building. “If people put their heads together, they can come up with solutions to these things,” he said. Many downtown businesses have at least one step at their entrance and no wheelchair access. Macomber-Dubs toured the downtown area with a reporter last week, showing the challenges of navigating an electric wheelchair around some of his favorite spots. Jeremy Macomber-Dubs, chairman of the city’s Disability Commission and a rally organizer with the grassroots Disableist Movement, said speakers will offer solutions to accessibility problems in the city and share their own experiences of living with disabilities.
Those unable to march are encouraged to gather at Pulaski Park at noon. and end at Pulaski Park, at 240 Main St., where attendees can hear speeches from accessibility advocates and enjoy a live performance of the Coldplay song “The Scientist” by Philip Price, Flora Reed and Melissa Nelson. NORTHAMPTON - Advocates for the rights of people with disabilities plan to rally this weekend for improved access to public spaces, calling attention to businesses where wheelchair users cannot shop and the crumbling downtown sidewalks that pose physical dangers for those with mobility challenges.Īt noon on Saturday, April 23, the march will begin at the train station at 170 Pleasant St. Jeremy Macomber-Dubs, who is helping organize a rally for the right of all people with disabilities to a more accessible city, talks about how the owners of Spoleto’s restaurant in Northampton built a wooden walkway in response to his complaints that he could not enter the building. Jeremy Macomber-Dubs, who is helping organize the rally for the right of all people with disabilities to a more accessible city, talks about the problems and success he has had in advocating for access to business in Northampton. Jeremy Macomber-Dubs, who is helping organize a rally for the right of all people with disabilities to a more accessible city, talks about the problems and success he has had in advocating for access to business in Northampton. that is no longer usable since a marijuana dispensary opened in the building. Jeremy Macomber-Dubs, who is helping organize a rally for the right of all people with disabilities to a more accessible city, at the door he used to be able to get to the elevator at 41 Strong Ave.
Jeremy Macomber-Dubs, who is helping organize a rally for the right of all people with disabilities to a more accessible city, demonstrates how the post office made a ramp but the door does not have a handicapped button to push making it hard to use for someone with less upper body strength, STAFF PHOTO/CAROL LOLLIS Jeremy Macomber-Dubs on the ramp at Familiars Coffee and Tea, whose owners worked quickly with him to make the pickup window more accessible.
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