U.S. Rep. Grace Meng, Council Member Shekar Krishnan, community members and accessibility activists gathered Monday morning to celebrate the completion of a long-awaited ADA-compliant ramp at the Jackson Heights Post Office, which was installed after years of advocacy from community members and elected officials.
The federally operated post office, located at 78-02 37th Ave., had long posed challenges for residents with mobility needs, preventing individuals with disabilities and parents with strollers from using the building’s main entrance.
Those unable to use the front steps had been forced to navigate around delivery trucks and enter through a rear loading dock ramp—a workaround that residents and advocates called both unsafe and undignified.
Meng and Krishnan joined representatives from the United States Access Board, the 34th Ave Open Streets Coalition and the office of U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on July 21 to celebrate the completion of the new ramp, which is located in the garden area to the right side of the building.
The long-standing Jackson Heights Beautification Group (JHBG) garden, which occupied the space used for the new ramp, was relocated to a bigger plot of land closer to 78th Street as part of the construction work, which began in late May.
The accessibility improvements come after years of advocacy from residents, some of whom traveled to alternate locations such as the Sunnyside Post Office, several miles away, to avoid navigating the current building’s steep stairs or crowded rear access point.
The initiative was made possible through a collaboration between Ocasio-Cortez, Meng, the U.S. Access Board and local advocacy led by Krishnan. Former Council Member Danny Dromm, Krishnan’s predecessor, also advocated for an ADA-compliant ramp during his time in office.
Meng welcomed the upgrades in a press conference outside the Jackson Heights Post Office Monday morning, stating that it should not have taken so long for the ramp to be installed.
She criticized the US Postal Service for failing to install the ramp sooner and accused former Postmaster General Louie DeJoy of refusing to hold a conversation with her last year on why a ramp was necessary for the local community.
“Nonetheless, I’m grateful that we’re finally here and so excited to see this needed addition to our Post Office,” Meng said. “But it shouldn’t have taken this long, and it would have been nice if they just did the right thing without being forced into it after years of pushing.
“It should not have taken many years, multiple members of Congress, multiple council members pleading with the Postal Service just to get a simple ramp.”
Krishnan, meanwhile, described the completion of the ramp as a “beautiful” and “historic” day for the district and said elected officials have heard complaints from community members “for decades.”
“We have heard from neighbors with disabilities, parents with strollers, seniors, how incredibly difficult it has been to get into simply get into the Jackson Heights Post Office,” Krishnan said.
Krishnan praised elected officials and advocates for pursuing the new accessibility upgrades while also championing the community garden, noting that Jackson Heights ranks “dead last” for open space in New York City.
“When the Post Office came up with the proposal to build a new ramp, but to remove the beautiful garden that neighbors have maintained every single week for years, we all told them, that was unacceptable to us,” Krishnan added.
Dr. Sachin Dev Pavithran, executive director of the US Access Board, said the agency is “very grateful” for all community members who played a role in advocating for the accessibility upgrades.
Ocasio-Cortez, whose district includes the Jackson Heights Post Office, has spent years advocating for the ramp and was scheduled to take part in Monday’s celebration. However, Ocasio-Cortez withdrew from the event at the last minute after her Bronx campaign office was vandalized with red paint overnight.
Officers arrived at the Herschell Street office at around 12:45 a.m. and found the office’s exterior smeared with red paint accusing Ocasio-Cortez of funding “genocide” in Gaza.
A hand-painted sign fixed to shutters outside the office read, “AOC funds genocide in Gaza” while red paint was spattered on the entrance to the campaign office. The incident is an apparent reference to Ocasio-Cortez’s vote against legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, which would have cut funding for the Israeli Defense Forces.
Ocasio-Cortez explained that she voted against the legislation because it would have cut funding for Israel’s “Iron Dome” but did not address the “actual bombs killing Palestinians.”
