Ginsburg’s Lofts on Saw Mill River sued to remove disability barriers

The mother of a man who is dependent on a wheelchair claims that The Lofts on Saw Mill River is inaccessible to people with disabilities and is in violation of federal, state and county fair housing laws.

Jessica Ayala, the guardian of Victor Rios, and Westchester Residential Opportunities Inc. are demanding that Ginsburg Development Companies, Valhalla, remove barriers throughout the 66-unit Hastings-on-Hudson apartment complex, in a complaint filed Nov. 23 in U.S. District Court in White Plains.

GDC Rentals and attorney Mark Ginsburg did not respond to an email request for comment.

However, in 2016, the federal government sued Ginsburg for violations of the Fair Housing Act at two apartment complexes in Haverstraw, and cited The Lofts and three other apartment complexes then under development.

Ginsburg agreed to fix the buildings, according to court records, and in 2018 the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York told the court that the fair housing requirements had been implemented.

But Ayala alleges that Ginsburg is “openly and willfully ignoring” a consent order in that dispute.

“Poorly designed and constructed buildings exclude disabled people,” the new complaint states, and “enforcement of civil rights laws is necessary to protect people with disabilities from the devastating impact of housing discrimination.”

Ayala and Rios moved to The Lofts in February. Rios has a neurological disability, according to the complaint, is unable to walk, breathes with a mechanical respirator and relies on a minivan equipped with a ramp.

Ayala claims that several architectural barriers impede her son”™s ability to get around.

Walkways to the three apartment buildings are obstructed by 8-inch curbs, for instance. Walkway ramps can be blocked by parked cars. Even designated handicap parking, Ayala claims, have aisles that are too narrow and are not the closest spaces to entrances.

Doors at the entrances, laundry room and gym close too quickly, according to the complaint, and entrance doors are too heavy for Rios to use. The apartment”™s electric outlets and thermostat and the building”™s mailboxes are mounted too high. The kitchen isn”™t wide enough for the wheelchair.

Ayala and Rios asked for an assigned parking space near the building entrance and for a motorized door opener at the entrance, according to the complaint, but Ginsburg denied their requests.

In July, Westchester Residential Opportunities, a White Plains not-for-profit organization, surveyed the apartment and saw several barriers, according to the complaint.

In October, the organization sent two testers to The Lofts who posed as family members looking for an apartment for an individual who uses a wheelchair. The sliding glass door to a balcony in an available apartment allegedly had a high threshold that would impede a wheelchair. The apartment thermostat and the building”™s mailboxes were mounted too high.

Ayala, Rios and Westchester Residential Opportunities are asking the court to declare that Ginsburg has violated fair housing laws and enjoin the company from discriminating on the basis of disability. They want the company to retrofit The Loft dwellings, train employees on fair housing laws, allow monitoring and pay unspecified monetary damages.

They are represented by Nassau County attorney James E. Bahamonde.