Disabled advocates protest Taylor St. restaurants for lack of access

By Ivette Sandoval

On June 22, American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today (ADAPT) held a protest against two local restaurants, China Night Café at 1140 W. Taylor St. and Subway at 1000 W. Taylor St. Representatives from the organization, which was founded 25 years ago as American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit but changed its name in 1990 to reflect ADAPT’s growth and evolving mission, alleged these restaurants are not handicapped accessible and said its members feel they should be.

Sam Katz, media spokesperson for ADAPT, said his group looked at several local restaurants and found that Subway in particular was "problematic" because the only entrance accessible for handicapped people was "through the back door, and you have to go through the kitchen and a flight of stairs." Requiring the handicapped to enter through that door is "unsanitary and a fire hazard—there were even boxes by the back door," he noted.

            Firoj Ali, owner of the Subway shop, disagreed and said the back entrance is "completely accessible" and that he and his employees offer to help people gain access to his restaurant if they need it. Nonetheless, Ali said he wishes to cooperate. He does not own the building, so he asked his landlord to obtain a permit from the City to build an access ramp, but the "request was denied by the City. I agreed to help the organization with anything that they need; we offered to ask for a permit and we did.”

Also, Subway issued a letter stating the company would put up disability signage so people know they can ask for help to get in.

            At China Night Café, “There was at least one flight of stairs, so we had to carry one of our group up the stairs and we thought that was incredibly condescending,” said Katz, alleging the manager said "she didn’t have the authority to do anything, even though her husband is the owner."

            Katz noted China Night Café management seemed amenable to putting an accessible ramp on the front of the restaurant and making menus in Braille and with large print. They already have made the handicapped information signs by the front door larger so more people could see them, he said.

            China Night Café management was not available for comment.

            According to Katz, “At China Night Café, there was an elderly woman who lived in an apartment complex in the area and she had never been involved with the organization. But she came, and she began chanting with us and it was incredibly inspiring.” he said.

            ADAPT gave the two organizations a July 30 deadline to fix the problems. "Our goal is not just to raise awareness," Katz said. "We want to accomplish our goals, to make people think twice about going into restaurants that don’t treat people fairly. I still feel like I accomplished something standing there under the sun, and I’m proud of what I’ve done,” said Katz, who has cerebral palsy.

            "I think it’s safe to say that we’re going to continue to pursue our efforts because it’s fundamentally a campaign to make sure that anybody can eat wherever they want,” he explained.

            "We don't want separate rights—just equal rights," said ADAPT's Jeremiah O'Dell.

            Christine Wilk of ADAPT called the Near West Side "one of the most inaccessible neighborhoods in Chicago" for the disabled community. Dallas Hathway of ADAPT said, "The area is old, but it is in their best interest to become accessible."

            The day of the protest, ADAPT also held a youth summit for youngsters with disabilities.

            For more information about ADAPT, call Katz at (608) 345-3599.