www.nyc.gov/html/om/html/2010b/pr346-10.html

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD) Commissioner Matthew Sapolin today hosted a reception at Gracie Mansion to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Mayor Bloomberg and Commissioner Sapolin presented five awards recognizing individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to increasing accessibility for people with disabilities. Mayor and Commissioner Sapolin were joined by Deputy Mayor of Legal Affairs Carol Robles-Román and representatives of the organizations that were recognized during the reception. Signed in 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act has fostered independence, empowerment and inclusion for millions of Americans.

"The Americans with Disabilities Act is one of our nation's important victories in fulfilling our founding promise of equality for all," said Mayor Bloomberg. "The 20th anniversary of the ADA is our opportunity to celebrate and highlight the everyday work of the many individuals and organizations that share this Administration's commitment to bettering the lives of people with disabilities. We have worked hard to make sure New Yorkers with disabilities have improved access to every aspect of the city, and we remain dedicated to making New York the greatest city in the world for people with disabilities."

"On this significant anniversary, it is only appropriate that the Mayor and I continue what has become an annual tradition by granting awards to some of the people and organizations who help people with disabilities fully participate in every aspect of city life," said Commissioner Sapolin. "The recipients, through their programs, services and actions, have demonstrated, and continue to demonstrate, their dedication to the benefits provided by the Americans with Disabilities Act."

At the reception, Mayor Bloomberg and Commissioner Sapolin presented awards to five recipients in recognition of their contributions to accessibility under the Americans with Disabilities Act. They are:

Bank of America: TITLE I Employment Award

American Museum of Natural History: TITLE II Public Service Award

The NYC Independent Living Centers: TITLE III Reasonable Accommodation Award

The AbleGamers Foundation: TITLE IV Telecommunications Award

The AbleGamers Foundation (AGF) is a 501(c)(3) public charity devoted to improving accessibility in the digital entertainment space and innovations in enabling hardware. AGF is being honored with the Title IV Telecommunications award for its use of technology and accessible telecommunications, including its website, AbleGamers.com, which is now the largest destination on the web for the disabled gaming community and offers a safe place for any gamer with any disability to explore and to solve issues as a team and family; its annual "Game Accessibility Day", designed to show how gaming can be used for rehabilitation, testing, or just plain fun; its interactive event "The Accessibility Arcade" that allows non-disabled people to look at, and experience the gaming world from the perspective of the disabled; and its "Path to Games Accessibility Project", which convenes leading games accessibility experts, game technology vendors, and lead game programmers, producers, artists, and testers to identify and clearly state what technologies and processes can be developed by 2015 that will greatly enhance the ability of people with disabilities to better play the videogames they want and love. Suzanne Robitaille, Board Member, The AbleGamers Foundation, is accepting the award.

Autism Speaks: Frieda Zames Advocacy Award

Congratulations!!

What time & date will the CNN segment air?