TRENTON
-- Attorney General Peter C. Harvey and
the Division on Civil Rights announced
today that the State has obtained commitments
from six major shopping centers in New
Jersey to better accommodate persons with
disabilities by either installing automatic
doors for the first time, or installing
additional automatic doors and making
other changes.
As part of a statewide shopping mall accessibility
initiative, Division on Civil Rights staff,
under the supervision of Director J. Frank
Vespa-Papaleo, began testing the accessibility
of entrance and exit areas at 28 shopping
malls throughout New Jersey in late 2004.
Harvey said that, as a result of the inspections,
six malls were found to be deficient because
they lacked power-assisted or automatic
doors to accommodate shoppers with disabilities
or impairments. The six malls included:
Burlington Center in Burlington, Shore
Mall in Egg Harbor Township, Newport Center
Mall in Jersey City, Menlo Park Mall in
Edison, Cumberland Mall in Vineland, and
Cherry Hill Mall in Cherry Hill.
Harvey noted that, in the aftermath of
the inspections, each of the six malls
agreed, in writing, to install automatic
doors and make other improvements. For
example, the owners of Burlington Center
have already installed an automatic-opening
door, added signs to help patrons locate
the improved entrance/exit, and adjusted
the “pull force” of other
doors to make them easier to open. The
owners of the Cherry Hill Mall, which
already had one power-assisted door in
place, agreed to install two additional
automatic doors, post signs throughout
the facility, and revise mall maps –
including those on its Web site.
“These
improvements represent important progress,”
said Attorney General Harvey. “The
fact is that modern shopping malls are
hubs of commerce and community, and many
of the people who visit them each day
have disabilities or impairments. While
many of us may take it for granted, the
simple act of entering or leaving a shopping
mall can be difficult -- if not impossible
-- for someone using a wheelchair, a walker
or other mobility aid.”
Harvey explained that the State’s
ongoing accessibility initiative is focused
on ensuring that such individuals, and
others who may have difficulty using non-automatic
entrances, are able to “get in the
door” of the shopping malls they
visit.
The Attorney General noted that power-assisted
door opening devices are not, at this
time, explicitly required by the federal
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
“However,
we believe that the New Jersey Law Against
Discrimination (LAD) and the Division’s
regulations on disability discrimination
require installation of such devices as
a reasonable accommodation,” Harvey
said.
Division on Civil Rights Director Vespa-Papaleo
noted that, of the 28 malls inspected,
15 were found to have sufficient access
by way of either automatic or power assisted
doors. The 15 included: Jersey Gardens
Mall in Elizabeth, Hamilton Mall in Mays
Landing, Freehold Raceway Mall in Freehold,
Monmouth Mall in Eatontown, Deptford Mall
in Deptford, Paramus Park Shopping Center
in Paramus, Garden State Plaza in Paramus,
Fashion Center in Paramus, Bergen Mall
in Paramus, MarketFair in Princeton, Quakerbridge
Mall in Lawrenceville, Bridgewater Commons
in Bridgewater, Ocean County Mall in Toms
River, Mall at Short Hills in Short Hills,
and Brunswick Square Mall in North Brunswick.
Seven other malls were found to have at
least one entrance equipped with an automatic
or power-assisted door, but had other
issues related to the accessibility of
their entrance doors. The seven include
Moorestown Mall in Moorestown, Echelon
Mall in Voorhees, Phillipsburg Mall in
Phillipsburg, Livingston Mall in Livingston,
Rockaway Town Square in Rockaway, Woodbridge
Center in Woodbridge, and Willowbrook
Mall in Wayne.
Vespa-Papaleo said the problems typically
involved a lack of signs directing patrons
to the entrance/exit areas equipped with
automatic doors, or the existence of automatic
door opening devices in need of service.
He said he expects those malls, too, to
resolve their lingering accessibility
issues in the coming months.
“Including the commitments received
as part of this initiative, every one
of the twenty-eight malls reviewed is
or soon will be accessible,” noted
Director Frank Vespa-Papaleo. “This
not only helps to make these malls accessible
to shoppers who use mobility aids, but
also to millions of parents with strollers
and senior citizens. More access means
a more enjoyable shopping experience for
the consumer, and more sales for retailers
and mall operators.”
Advocacy organizations, meanwhile, applauded
the Attorney General’s accessibility
initiative.
“We
are delighted that the Attorney General’s
Office, through the Division on Civil
Rights, has made accessibility for persons
with mobility impairments a top priority,”
explained Ethan Ellis, Director of the
Developmental Disabilities Council, a
group that advocates for wheelchair users.
“Those of us who use wheelchairs
to get around want to visit our shopping
malls, and we have had barriers to getting
in the doors. This is a great step to
universal access for all persons.”
Attorney General Harvey praised the shopping
malls for their prompt attention to the
survey results, and for their commitment
to increasing access.
“I
commend them for leading the way to increased
access for all persons,” said Harvey.
“It is not only good business, it
is the right thing to do.”
Director Vespa-Papaleo said that, “Within
the next 12 months, New Jersey’s
shopping malls will become among the most
accessible in the nation. That bodes well
for New Jersey’s consumers and businesses,
and more than 67 million shoppers who
visit New Jersey’s shopping malls
annually. Improved accessibility through
the use of automatic or power-assisted
doors gives everyone in New Jersey a way
of ‘getting in the door.’
“
>>
View the Shopping
Mall Accessibility Report (103k pdf)
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The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination
(LAD) provides that each Respondent found
to have committed a violation is subject
to a penalty of up to $10,000, provided
he or she has not been convicted of a
previous violation within the past five
years. Respondents who have violated the
LAD within the past five years are subject
to a penalty of up to $25,000, while those
who have been convicted of two or more
violations within the past seven years
are subject to a penalty of up to $50,000.
The Division on Civil Rights is responsible
for enforcing the LAD and the Family Leave
Act. Specifically, the Division investigates
allegations of discrimination in employment,
housing, places of public accommodation
and credit. Its offices are located in
Atlantic City, Camden, Jersey City, Newark,
Paterson, and Trenton. Further information
about the Division is available on its
Web site at www.NJCivilRights.org
.
>>
View
the Shopping
Mall Accessibility Report (103k pdf)
plugin