US Attorney's Office Will Check New York's Most Popular Restaurants for ADA Compliance
The office of Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara will be reviewing more than 50 New York restaurants, but the critique won’t be culinary in nature.
Bharara’s office will review the restaurants voted most popular in the 2011 Zagat guide for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, report Bloomberg News and the Wall Street Journal.
If the review finds any problems, the restaurants will be allowed to correct them. Those that refuse could face a civil suit. A similar review of Manhattan hotels produced 33 voluntary compliance agreements.
The Wall Street Journal spoke with Sarah Rosenberg, a spokeswoman for Eleven Madison Park, to get her take on the inspection. She said the restaurant provides access to disabled people through its ground floor location, wheelchair-accessible restrooms and elevator service to second-floor private dining rooms.
“We welcome them in,” she said of the inspectors, “and hopefully they stay for dinner.”
