Navigating NYC can be tricky for just about anyone – but imagine what it’s like for the visually impaired?
Here are some insights – or ‘Film Facts’ – that we’ve gained since starting this project.
This photo features our subject, Daniel Aronoff, attempting to cross a street with major construction happening. As he approaches a ditch, a construction worker helps to guide him around it. As Daniel says “NYC is a place of perpetual construction. You never know when you’re going to find scaffolding, a manhole, ditches…”
After the winter we had, there is certainly a lot of work happening to help fix the many potholes around the city, making it tricky to navigate for just about anyone.
And there is also the matter of knowing when to cross a street safely.
In the video below, Daniel is crossing 23rd Street in Manhattan towards Eataly – one of the few audibly cued crosswalks. Did you know – out of 12,460 intersections in NYC, only 99 have audibly cued crosswalks?
Another #FilmFact – at the time we began production (and this video was shot), there were just 77 audibly cued crosswalks. But thanks to Councilman Mark Levine and Mayor DeBlasio’s “Vision Zero” initiative to improve pedestrian safety in NYC, that is changing. With the introduction of Bill 216-B, the number of accessible pedestrian signals installed will triple each year from 25 to 75.