Q: I live in a shared apartment in Midtown East and cannot use the intercom in my apartment due to my hearing loss. The building hasn't really done anything to accommodate me. In an emergency, the phone is useless. (The intercoms don't work very well for my hearing neighbors either.) I would like to suggest a hands-free intercom phone that might allow me to hear some of what is being said. What does the law say about a functioning intercom for a person with a disability?
A: Your cooperative must accommodate your disability and should provide you with an intercom system that allows you to fully understand your callers.
Intercoms are required by law in most New York City apartment buildings, including cooperative housing. Buildings are also required to provide reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities under the federal Fair Housing Act and state and city human rights laws.
An intercom that works for you would “almost certainly be considered appropriate under the law,” says Ali Frick, an anti-discrimination law expert in Manhattan.
City law requires the co-op to pay for reasonable accommodations. You can request an intercom system that accommodates your hearing loss from the building's management. State what you're requesting and why you need a different intercom system — but you don't need to go into great detail about your disability, says Maureen Belluscio, senior attorney in the Disability Justice Program at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest. Just explain how other devices will allow you to use the building's services and provide information about any previous intercom requests you've made.
If the building management doesn't respond, it's a “very strong” case of discrimination. The court will likely order the change and even award you monetary damages to compensate for things like emotional distress, says Andrew Lieb, a New York-based real estate and discrimination lawyer.
The co-op's failure to address your request and work with you to find an acceptable solution (in what is known as “cooperative dialogue”) is separate grounds for legal action under city law, according to Mr. Lieb. “That reader should demand and receive a visual interface, not just a hands-free device,” he said. “The reader has the right to understand the entire conversation, rather than being reduced to second-class citizen status within the co-op.”
You can tell your hearing neighbors that their apartments should also have working intercom systems.
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