Following NYLPI’s March 2015 Accessible Justice Report, which documented the widespread inaccessibility of New York City’s courthouses to people with mobility impairments, the City of New York, NYLPI, and four of our clients entered into a groundbreaking Structured Negotiation Agreement in June 2016. Through this process, the City, NYLPI, and our clients will address a number of topics, including improving the physical accessibility of existing courthouse facilities as well as any new construction, improving training for City employees assigned to work at Courthouse facilities, and the City’s data collection processes. We will be convening a public meeting to solicit feedback and information from community stakeholders regarding their recommendations to ensure that New York City Courthouses are accessible. Structured Negotiation is an innovative alternate dispute resolution process for resolving complex disputes. To the knowledge of all parties, this is the first time that the City of New York has entered into a Structured Negotiations Agreement of this kind. We are hopeful that this process will lead to meaningful improvements that make courthouses all over New York City accessible to all people.

• City Testimony Announcing Structured Negotiation Agreement
• NYLPI Testimony on Courthouse Accessibility
• Briefing Paper of the Governmental Affairs and Human Services Division (Committee Report for June 23, 2016 hearing)