[Blindtlk] Article in the NY times.

[Rovig, Lorraine]

I suggest the young blind vendor hire the 82-year-old helper (and be
quick to do so). That would reduce criticism and would keep the "we know
your name" vibe going that helps to sell coffee to regulars. This also
would give young Mr. Freeman a chance to learn the names and ways of his
customers. It is unfortunate that the young man was on a ski trip when
this story broke since it reads like he is playing while the losers of
the stand are in agony.  Hiring the old guy would be worth the positive
publicity alone. 

Lorraine Rovig
"Know you're right, then go ahead."--Daniel Boone


> 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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