By April Drew

AS thousands of Irish visitors came to snowy New York to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, many found refuge from the bitter temperatures in the countless bars and hotels scattered around the city, but for one particular gentleman refuge wasn’t that easy to come by.

Peter Nolan from Co. Carlow, who is in a wheelchair, said being a tourist in New York had its ups and downs.

“Don’t get me wrong, I had a great holiday and people are so friendly, but there were just some parts that proved challenging for me,” he told the Irish Voice during a recent interview.

Nolan, 31 decided to join over 300 other visitors from Carlow, including his parents Eamonn and Barbara, who were coming to New York to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and participate in the parade.

Nolan, who was born with Spina Bifida (incomplete development of spinal cord) left Dublin on the morning of March 14, to be told he would not be able to go to the bathroom for the duration of the flight because his wheelchair would not fit in the aisle.

“I had to watch what I was drinking for the seven hours and 20 minutes, it’s a difficult one as you can imagine but I survived,” said Peter who has traveled extensively to Europe and is familiar with the procedure.

Nolan and his parents were checked into the Affinia Hotel, opposite Madison Square Garden on Seventh Avenue. However, Peter was left waiting outside the hotel for a security guy to come and bring him around the side so he could get in.

“The hotel was fantastic and the people were brilliant but for me to access the hotel I had to go to the side street, call a security person who would come down and meet me and bring me into an elevator, which would bring me to lobby level,” said Nolan, and he had to do this every time he wanted to enter and exit the building. “I just got used to it after a few days.”

Like the rest of the Irish celebrating the holiday Nolan went to the pub. Unlike the rest of the Irish Peter had to choose a bar that was located very near a hotel with accessible toilets.

“Not many bars in the city were accessible so I had to make a dash out to the bathroom in a nearby hotel or else I had to watch the amount I was drinking,” he said.

Nolan also didn’t come across any user-friendly taxicabs. He merely relied on his parents to dismantle his wheelchair and put it in the cab. “The taxi drivers were great though, very helpful with the wheelchair,” he said.

The bad weather over the long weekend didn’t put a dampener on Nolan’s spirits, but it did, however, put some obstacles in his way while trying to get about.

“One night after a few too many beers I found my own way home from Fitzpatrick’s Hotel, (Lexington and 56th) but when I went to cross at the very accessible footpaths that have ramps built into them, I discovered that the snow ploughs, which were doing a great job clearing the streets, compacted the snow at the bottom of the ramps,” said Nolan, joking that he had no choice but to put chains on his wheels and climb over the heaped snow.

“It was like trying to roll over Mount Everest,” he laughed, saying that he had his snow boots on just in case he had to actually walk across.

Getting serious for half a second, he did say that he was impressed that all the footpaths were dished, unlike Ireland where he said “at home there might be a path with a ramp but the adjacent ramp might be 10 miles down the road, you’d nearly have to go into the next county to cross the road in Ireland,” he laughs.

Nolan, who also toured Time Squares, Fifth Avenue and all the tourist spots, said on a visit to relations in Manhasset, Long Island he traveled in the comfort of his chair.

“The trains were so accessible, I was able to stay in the chair and enjoy the ride like everyone else,” he said.

In Ireland, Peter said that a disabled passenger must give Iarnrod Eireann, the Irish rail providers, 24 hours notice if they require travel.

He also commended the New York buses. On a shopping trip to Jersey Gardens, Peter got to experience first hand the “fantastic buses” which have an automatic ramp that lowers to street level so a disabled passenger can board.

Overall Nolan rates New York as one of the most accessible cities he has traveled to but would like to have more bars with wheelchair friendly toilets.

“Us Irish like to party and just because I’m in a wheelchair doesn’t mean I don’t like a few social ones,” he smiles.