Nine of Broadway’s most iconic theaters agreed Wednesday to make massive mainstream changes to boost accessibility for disabled patrons under a settlement deal cut with the feds.
Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara announced the filing and simultaneous settlement of a federal lawsuit his office filed with Nederlander Organization, which owns and operates the Brook Atkinson, Gershwin, Lunt Fontanne, Marquis, Minskoff, Neil Simon, Palace and Richard Rogers theaters.
Under the settlement, which was signed off by Manhattan federal Judge Katherine Polk Failla, Nederlander Organization will eliminate more than 500 accessibility barriers in its theaters’ restrooms, concession counters, waiting areas and box offices to comply with Americans with Disabilities Act.
It will also now offer a total of 70 wheelchair-accessible seating locations and 134 aisle seats for persons who can transfer from wheelchairs to regular seats. The company will also pay a $45,000 settlement to the government.
Bharara said the settlement coupled with a similar 2003 lawsuit filed by the feds against another theater operator, Shubert Theaters, now means more than 20 Broadway theaters will be “more accessible than ever before.”