GUILDERLAND — On Feb. 23, Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced that the 12 shopping malls across New York State operated by Pyramid Management Group LLC — including Crossgates Mall in Guilderland — must be made more accessible to those with disabilities.

The agreement between Pyramid and the attorney general’s office calls for Pyramid to improve access at both indoor and outdoor common areas, according to a press release from Schneiderman’s office.

Indoor common areas include the main walkways throughout the mall, the cafeteria seating area at the food court, and restrooms. Outdoor common areas include parking spaces, curb ramps, and entrances.

Denise Figueroa said she stays away from Crossgates because of its scale, preferring the smaller and more manageable Colonie Center. Figueroa is the executive director of the Independent Living Center of the Hudson Valley, a Troy not-for-profit center that provides advocacy, peer counseling, and support services. She uses a wheelchair.

Figueroa said that she has encountered problems at area shopping malls with lack of enforcement of the rules for accessible parking and with power door openers that don’t work.

When she goes to Crossgates, Figueroa always uses the entrance at Best Buy, partly out of habit and partly because she knows that the doors there reliably open, she said. She wasn’t sure, but she said she hoped all of the entrances at Crossgates had curb cuts, and added, “You shouldn’t have to only go to one entrance.”            

The Independent Living Center was happy to see, Figueroa said, that this agreement had been struck with Pyramid. “We hope it’s going to bring some improvements,” she said.

Blaise Bryant is a peer advocate with the same group. He is blind and said that he usually brings a friend with him when he goes to Crossgates. He mentioned that he has gone there several times on his own, with his seeing-eye dog, Flash, but only “when it’s absolutely necessary.”

He said that the problems he experiences there are not unique to Crossgates, but occur at any mall: He is unable, on his own or with his assistance dog, to tell which store is which, and he needs to ask people for help.

He said he thought that there is only so much any mall can do to make shoppers who are completely blind better able to navigate there independently.

Michael Shanley, a partner with Pyramid Group, said, “I think it’s fair to say that the town of Guilderland, the building department, and all of us at Crossgates consider the issue of handicap accessibility of the highest priority.”

He continued, “I believe we have a good track record in this area, but at the same time we are always looking to improve.” He said that Pyramid welcomes the attorney general’s involvement in suggesting ways to do that.

When told about Figueroa’s concerns, Shanley said that he did not know of any problems with parking enforcement and that he thought that all entrances had power door openers, but that he was not sure and that he would look into it.

The Enterprise also told Shanley what Bryant had said and asked if, in fact, there is anything that might be done to make Crossgates more accessible to the blind, such as Braille information kiosks or audible cues at the entrances to stores. Shanley said that he found the issue “intriguing in a positive way,” and that he would “love to sit down with anybody who has some ideas on that subject.”

Investigation and resolution

The investigation into Pyramid arose from a complaint filed with the attorney general about barriers to accessibility at Champlain Centre in Plattsburgh, the release said. The attorney general’s Civil Rights Bureau assessed outdoor common areas at Pyramid-operated malls across the state, and did a comprehensive study of Walden Galleria mall in Cheektowaga in western New York.

These studies revealed what the attorney general called “several persistent accessibility barriers” at Pyramid-managed malls including improperly sized parking spaces, steep slopes and cross slopes at curb ramps, inadequate signage, movable objects in the path of travel, and other issues in hallways and restrooms.

Pyramid has agreed to: retain an Americans with Disabilities Act consultant who will survey the malls to determine necessary changes, and who will report to the attorney general for three years on Pyramid’s compliance; ensure that the common areas of each mall comply with accessibility standards; develop new policies prohibiting discrimination; and train employees. In addition,

Pyramid will submit any plans for construction or significant alterations to the ADA consultant for review, and post accessibility maps for each mall on its website as well as information on how to obtain complimentary wheelchairs and access any services that are available.

Under the agreement, Pyramid also needs to amend its standard retail lease to require tenants to certify that its plans comply with accessibility requirements, and take steps to promote compliance by the mall’s anchor stores.

In addition, Pyramid will “resolve the investigation,” the release says, by paying $160,000 to New York State.