Cissy Stamm, center, with Wargas, and Laura Damone with Maddy, her current service dog.
From the NY Times June 29:
The incident occurred about two years ago. Laura Damone, a 56-year-old resident of Gramercy Park who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and panic attacks, walked into the Union Square subway station with Buddy, who was her service dog at the time.
The dog, who wore a vest, attracted the attention of two transit workers, who, Ms. Damone says, humiliated her by backing her into a corner, demanding proof of her disability and giving her a ticket.
The confrontation exemplifies problems that can arise from what Assemblywoman Deborah Glick thinks is a vague city law.
Unlike state and federal law, which explicitly prohibits asking about or demanding proof of a disability, city law declares only that establishments provide “reasonable accommodation” to people with service animals. According to Bethany Jankunis, Ms. Glick’s chief of staff, this subjects people like Ms. Damone, who use service animals and whose disabilities are not plainly evident, to discrimination and embarrassment.
“That’s no way to write policy,” said Ms. Jankunis, referring to the use of the what she considers the murky word “reasonable,” and who submitted the issue to Community Board 1 in Manhattan as part of a continuing attempt to clarify the law.
There are 200 to 250 licensed service dogs in New York, according to Jessica Scaperotti, a spokeswoman for the health department, which licenses service dogs.
In the opinion of Cliff Mulqueen, a deputy commissioner at the city’s Human Rights Commission, the city’s current, case-by-case approach, as opposed to the widespread policy Ms. Glick is seeking, is the only possible approach to service animal accommodation.
