Beth Prevor testifies on deaf access and Disability Forward Fund accountability

You may begin.

Good afternoon and thank you to the committee for this opportunity to testify on Create NYC.

And I'll be echoing much as what has been already said.

My name is Beth Prevore.

I'm a native New Yorker, a disabled person, and co-founder and executive director of Hands-On Sign Interpretive Performances.

Which provides interpreting services to a variety of theaters across the city.

I've worked alongside the deaf community for more than 42 years, and I hear their frustrations constantly.

I need an interpreter.

I call the theater.

They didn't know what I meant.

No one called back, or they just said no.

A quick no gets everyone off the hook, and the deaf person is left to fight alone or give up or call me, which is what generally happens, and lands on me to say, I'm not sure what to tell you.

I was around for the development of Create NYC, which focused quite heavily on disability and access issues.

I attended town hall meetings, and from the plan, the Disability Forward Fund was created, where I served on one of the first panels.

Today, that fund is a little understood add-on for accommodations with no review and no accountability.

We must acknowledge that very little has changed in terms of arts access policy in New York City in the last 10 years.

The fund should return to its original purpose, with deaf and disabled people and access workers part of the decision-making.

But money alone isn't the answer.

A grant can pay for one interpreter.

one time, but it can't make inclusion a standard rather than a courtesy.

The city can lead that change by building access into how it funds, plans, and measures culture.

Now I sit on the steering committee of Cultural Accessibility NYC, an initiative where once again we're reinventing the wheel to gather data on disability and access we couldn't get from DCLA.

The city should be our partner, not leave us to do this alone.

I'm asking for access reporting from city-funded cultural organizations, a plan to meet the city's goals, and above all, accountability.

As I'm nearing the end of my career, and I've run out of patience and energy for serving...

Thank you.

Your time has expired.

You can finish up.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

I've run out of patience for energy for serving on committees without commitment.

But perhaps naively, I still have hope.

So maybe for the last time, I'll ask you to work with us, ask us, include us.

But finally, let's do something to make real and lasting change.

Thank you.