Wheelchair-bound girl stuck in apartment since Sandy

CONEY ISLAND

The steep stairwells make it impossible for people in wheelchairs to get up and down from the upper floors on Coney Island's West 24th Street - the elevators stopped working after Sandy, and that has forced a young disabled girl to miss school for months.

"It's going on three months with no elevators," said Schania's mom, Sherri Barnett.

Sherri stays at home with her daughter – she even rolls out a bed each night, because Schania can't get down the stairs to her bedroom.

Sherri's disabled neighbor, Bonnie Kirshtein has someone get her walker as she inches down the stairs to get to work. They both say that management either doesn't answer, or hangs up each time they ask when the company will fix the elevators.

"You can't call them – the phones here don't work since the storm," said Kirschtein.

Broken elevators, treacherous steps, and exposed walkway are all still not fixed months after the storm. Barnett says the city is trying to get a tutor to get her 2nd grader instruction until she can come back down on working elevators again, although she says management will not be back until after the new year.

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