NPS Concessioner Faces Lawsuit Alleging Inadequate Access For Wheelchair Visitors

A handicapped visitor to the Statue of Liberty filed a lawsuit against the concessioner who provides ferry service to the National Park Service site based on his claim that the ferry boats were not properly accessible to wheelchair users.  While the concessioner made accommodations for the plaintiff to board the ferry boat, he asserted those accommodations were not sufficient and that the bathrooms were also not wheelchair accessible.  In response to the lawsuit, the concessioner argued that there were no standards under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that governed the situation.  Nonetheless, the concessioner agreed to make any necessary changes in response to the complaint and thus asked the court to dismiss the case as moot.  The court, however, held that it could not yet determine if the concessioner had “completely and irrevocably eradicated” the basis for the complaints and thus allowed the case to continue.