Simple Steps to Fix the Steps

New York magazine recently touted the steps leading to Low Library as a peaceful refuge from the chaos of New York City. For a handicapped visitor to Columbia, however, those steps can be a source of frustration and anxiety. Since Low Library stands astride the north-south campus divide, the University should make it an easy obstacle to overcome.

The Office of Disability Services (ODS) has addressed some student concerns by renovating a number of dorm rooms and by making the entrance to Fayerweather accessible to wheelchair users. But the rest of campus is less accessible to disabled visitors, who should be able to attend on-campus events with minimal prior planning. At present, anyone who wishes to access the elevator that leads to the top of the Low steps must speak to the security guards at the gates on 116th Street and Broadway. Columbia justifies this restriction as an effort to prevent students from abusing the elevator by, for example, using it to transport cases of beer. But it is difficult to imagine why or how anyone would exploit the system. Since the elevator on Low Plaza is unlikely to be abused—least of all by campus bootleggers—limiting access amounts to little more than an unnecessary hurdle for disabled and injured people with business on campus.

Although the ODS Web site maintains a comprehensive map showing elevators, alternate routes, and ramps around campus, the campus map posted at the gates shows handicap elevators but no other detail. Maps geared toward campus accessibility would help handicapped and elderly visitors, as well as parents with strollers, find their way around a campus that was designed with little consideration for people with disabilities. Given Columbia's age and architecture, it is understandably difficult for ODS to make the campus more accessible. Nonetheless, opening the Low elevator to the public and updating disability maps would make getting around a little bit easier for a great many people. The Low Library steps are a fixture on campus, and Columbia should ensure that they are an impediment for no one.