Sunday, 2 P.M. November 6, Civil Rights March on Huntington Avenue

Posted by John B. Kelly

Here is the press release that started being sent out yesterday.

People looking for more information can see stories by people with disabilities here, here, here, here,and elsewhere.

People looking for information on brick sidewalks and how we got to where we are can check here, here, and here

MARCH FOR CIVIL RIGHTS AND PUBLIC SAFETY UP HUNTINGTON AVE, SUNDAY NOV. 6, 2:00 PM

Join Eileen Brewster as she rolls up Huntington Avenue, in the street, from Parker Street to Massachusetts Avenue, to protest how she and other people with disabilities are being excluded from the sidewalks of Boston. All citizens concerned about civil rights and public safety are invited to gather at the corner of Parker Street and Huntington Avenue, on Sunday, November 6 at 2:00 p.m. A rally organized by Neighborhood Access Group (NAG) will follow the march, at about 3:00 p.m., in front of the Symphony Towers elderly/disabled housing complex. People of disabilities will be speaking about their experience with brick sidewalks.

Public officials are invited to march in support of the right to neighborhood travel.

Access advocates are also furious about the new decorative crosswalks being installed along Huntington Avenue. "It's just one thing after another," said Symphony Towers resident Pam Beeler. "First you have the brick, and then you have the bumpy brick street. There's no relief! Whose fault is this? Is it Menino's?"

The new crosswalks along Huntington Avenue consist of thermoplastic "brick" patterns imprinted into the asphalt. The original streetscape design called for crosswalks of brick pavers, which had not been installed. The decorative crosswalks had been promised to be completely smooth.

Brewster said, "I moved to Boston for better accessibility and everywhere I turn there are bricks around me. And after the sidewalk in front of the Huntington Theatre shredded my wheelchair tires and made me fall, I've been in a full body cast ever since. I can't go on the bricks now because it just adds to my pain. Now to go down Huntington Ave., I have to use the bus. I tried to go protest against Mayor Menino when he announced the Symphony Streetscape Project, but my bus got me there too late!"

Brewster will pause to tell her story at the spot in front of the Huntington Theatre where she fell.

"Sooner or later, these bricks are coming out," NAG founder John Kelly said . "Where are the people, who will be the leaders to declare that civil rights and personal safety are more important than some powerful people's idea of 'beautification?'"

Huntington Avenue had concrete sidewalks until two years ago, when they were replaced with "Boston City Hall Pavers," bricks specially manufactured to be uneven and pitted for an "historic" look. Institutions like Northeastern University and the Fenway Alliance consortium pushed hard for the bricks as a way to "improve" the neighborhood.

Bill Henning, executive director of Boston Center for Independent Living, said "We cannot passively watch as people with disabilities are forced from the city's sidewalks because some group of people think it's cute that Boston in 2005 look as it did in 1905 or 1805. In an era when diversity is rightfully desired, some are quite content to essentially expand exclusion via public works."

Hundreds of elderly and disabled people live right next to the brick sidewalks, and have been forced to go in the street, alter their travel routes, or stay at home. Despite protests, testimony before the City Council, and complaints filed with the Architectural Access Board, the Department of Public Works has refused to budge on the issue. Indeed, brick sidewalks have continued to go down throughout the city, from Washington Street to Cambridge Street downtown.

To get their story out, Brewster and protesters will be showing off "storyboards," which describe the problems brick sidewalks cause, both for people with disabilities and non-disabled people.

"When I see bricks I think of the pain it is going to cause me to go down the street. When I see bricks I look around desperately to see if there is another way I can go," writes Brookline resident Stacy Berloff. "Brick sidewalks rattle my brains and I get a stiff neck from trying to stabilize my head," writes Brighton resident Tony Horne. Symphony Towers resident Billie Tyler asks the public to "Help us get rid of this brick, please!" The Huntington Avenue brick sidewalks make her and other disabled women incontinent.