[Blindtlk] Article in the NY times.

Thu Jan 4 21:02:43 CST 2007

Okay, regarding the misapplication of the Randolph Shephard act.  Doesn't
the act itself apply solely to government buildings?  If so, how is a train
station a government building?  That's the main misapplication of the act
that I see.

Am I off-base on this?

Alan Wheeler
awheeler at neb.rr.com or alan_wheeler at neb.rr.com
redwheel1 on skype
http://alan-wheeler.blogspot.com/
"Tell the people the truth and the country will be free"
  --Abraham Lincoln

-----Original Message-----
From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Ray Foret Jr.
Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2007 8:12 PM
To: NFBnet Blind Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Article in the NY times.

I see what you mean Alan.  This article makes us blind people seem like a
bunch of meanies.  Frankly, this is one where I see both sides of the issue.

I'm sort of wondering in the back of my mind whether this might be a
misapplication of the Randolphe Shepard act.  What I mean is this.  I kind
of wonder if maybe the old guy absolutely has to be put out of his job just
to satisfy the requirements of the Randolphe Shepherd program which
indicates that the blind must be given top priority.  Somehow, I can't help
feeling that the law is being both misinterpreted and misapplied in this
case.  I'd sure like to know what the opinions of blind vendors are about
this matter.  On the other hand, could it be the case that the old fellow is
about to retire anyhow and he just doesn't want a blind person taking his
spot?  I don't know.  All I know is that, like Alan said, something sure
feels wrong about this whole deal to me.

Sincerely yours,
The Constantly Barefooted,
Ray
Home phone and fax:
(985)853-0139
E-mail:
rforetjr at bellsouth.net
Skype Name:
barefootedray
Blog:
www.raysworld.blogs.com
Podcast .rss Feed:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/worldofray

God bless President George W. Bush!
God bless our troops!
and God bless America
I am posting this because, quite honestly, I don't know what to think.  I'm
sure of one thing, I don't like the slant the Times gives this article.

At a Railway Coffee Stand, a Battle Over What's Fair - New York Times The
New York Times December 29, 2006 Greenwich Journal At a Railway Coffee
Stand, a Battle Over What's Fair By ALISON LEIGH COWAN GREENWICH, Conn.,
Dec. 28 - When the first train of the day rumbles through town at 4:45 a.m.,
Gregory Maher is usually there to see that commuters do not board
empty-handed. Armed with pots of freshly brewed coffee, he greets the
bleary-eyed by name and sends them off fortified with their favorite
newspapers and morning snacks.

If they are fumbling for change when their train rolls in, an honor system
is observed. "They can pay me whenever," said Mr. Maher, 24.

Save for the cappuccino maker, it is a scene that has existed as long as
suburbia. But after eight years serving the hedge fund traders, chief
executives and other New York-bound professionals who stream through the
station in the Old Greenwich neighborhood each morning, Mr. Maher was
notified this month that he, his wife, Mary, and their 82-year-old helper,
John Edward Kennedy, had lost the coffee concession and must leave by Jan.
12.

Greenwich town officials said they had little choice but to displace the
Mahers in favor of a blind entrepreneur, a third-generation Greenwich man
named Adam Fairbanks, who will take over the concession. They cited
little-known but longstanding federal and state laws that give preference to
the blind when it comes to operating concessions on government property.

Mr. Fairbanks will join 45 fellow graduates of a state training program who
run cafeterias, snack bars, newsstands and gift shops on government-owned
property in Connecticut.

"I don't happen to think it's a very good law," said James Lash, a
Republican who is Greenwich's first selectman. "But it is the law."

The Mahers, a Milford couple who say they use the roughly $200 a day that
they make on the early morning Metro-North crowd to help support their two
children, are fighting their removal. They have collected 500 signatures on
a petition and that sits under a bulletin board decorated with snapshots of
the family. They have hired a lawyer to research the 70-year-old federal law
and a parallel 61-year-old state law to see if they have any recourse, and
they are speaking out on what they see as the inequity of having their
business taken from them when customers testify that they are doing a good
job.

"I've known a lot of the commuters for a long time," Mr. Maher said.

"That's why it's heartbreaking to see us go."

Mr. Fairbanks was out of town skiing this week, but his father, Richard
Fairbanks, said his 23-year-old son has been blind since birth, attended
Greenwich public schools and considered the concession "the ultimate job,"
especially since the train station is within walking distance from their
home.

"So, it's a very comfortable environment for him, and it's a job he can be
successful at," his father said, adding that his son is aware of the
criticism but is used to challenges and "can handle it."

On Wednesday, a crowd of regulars were quick to speak their minds in support
of the Mahers. "To me, it seems unconstitutional," said Ralph DellaCamera, a
hedge fund trader passing through the station about 6:30 a.m. "That's not
the capitalistic system."

Some customers said they would treat the new vendor warily. "I'm not looking
forward to giving him any of my business," said Stephen Mesker, a regular.
"Preference is one thing when you award a contract" for the first time, Mr.
Mesker said, but taking it from an existing operator is "like telling
someone who owns a house: 'Guess what? We have someone better for it.' "

Brian Sigman, executive director of the state's Board of Education and
Services for the Blind, said he hoped train riders would "give the
entrepreneur a chance" to prove himself.

Mr. Fairbanks said his son plans to offer free coffee and snacks and have
the barbershop quartet he sings with serenade customers on opening day.

Despite their longevity, the Mahers lack a long-term contract, operating on
little more than a handshake. Mr. Maher, who began selling coffee at the
train station at 16, said he was offered the chance to take over the stand
in 2001, when his boss moved on. The town consented, but only on a
month-to-month basis.

Mr. Lash, the selectman, said such arrangements are preferable because they
allow the town to replace vendors who are uncooperative or who invite
complaints. As Mr. Maher described the deal: "As long as you do a good job
and keep everyone happy you can stay here."

Unless, apparently, a blind man wants your business.

State officials say they would not have stepped in had Mr. Maher been
covered by a contract. But since the concession was never put out to bid and
the arrangement had no set termination date, they said it was wrong to
expect them to wait until Mr. Maher moved on before taking care of a person
in need. "It just seems so unfair to say that because this couple had this
location that there's this entitlement and that they should always have it,"
Mr. Sigman said.

Down the line at the train station in Rye, N.Y., the concessionaire is Frank
Palmeri, who is blind and uses a wheelchair. Trained as a lawyer 30 years
ago, Mr. Palmeri said he was unable to get a job in law so he has been
selling newspapers and coffee from his post ever since. He, too, works on a
month-to-month lease.

"I worry constantly," he said. "The options are limited. If this falls
apart, there's nothing else I can do."

The Mahers are younger and able-bodied, and coffee is their supplemental
income, not their livelihood; Mr. Maher has a job as a cable television
technician, and Mrs. Maher operates a second concession at another train
station in town. Still, the couple said every bit helps.

Their 82-year-old employee, who lords over the little red station house as
if it were his front porch, is also unsure where he will land. "It keeps me
off the streets," he said.

Copyright 2006

The New York Times Company

Alan Wheeler
awheeler at neb.rr.com
 or
alan_wheeler at neb.rr.com

redwheel1 on skype
http://alan-wheeler.blogspot.com/

"Tell the people the truth and the country will be free"
  --Abraham Lincoln

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