Caregivers across New York have long faced an ugly choice at public venues without adult-sized changing tables: change a disabled family member on a restroom floor or in the back of a car. Democratic lawmakers and disability advocates gathered this week in Westchester County to press Governor Kathy Hochul to sign a bill they say would finally end that indignity.
The Traveling with Dignity Act, formally known as S.4042A/A.6219B, would require height-adjustable adult changing tables at large public facilities across the state, including Applegreen rest stops, sports stadiums, and museums, according to Spectrum News. The bill has already passed both houses of the New York Legislature this year and now awaits the governor's signature. State Sen. Pete Harckham, who represents the Westchester area and serves as the bill's Senate sponsor, said the legislation builds on the protections already established by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Harckham said the measure will provide safer, more sanitary spaces for caregivers and family members assisting adults who need support, a point he raised while discussing the bill on Capital Tonight, per the same Spectrum News report. He worked with legislative colleagues and disability advocates to shepherd the bill through both chambers, and said he looks forward to seeing it signed into law.
A Bill Born From Two-Hour Trips to Albany
The push traces back to November 2023, when Harckham was inspired to draft the legislation after learning from CP Unlimited Hudson Valley Executive Director Penny Pagliaro that many disability advocates could not attend legislative rallies in Albany because they could not travel more than two hours without access to an adult changing table, according to City & State New York. An earlier version of the bill, then numbered S.7697/A.8373, stalled in Assembly committees during the 2023-2024 session before being revised and reintroduced for the current session, the outlet reported.
Assemblymember Chris Burdick, who represents Westchester County's 93rd Assembly District, served as the primary Assembly sponsor of the companion bill, A.6219B, alongside 27 co-sponsors this August, according to Halston Media News. Burdick partnered closely with Harckham to guide the bipartisan measure through both chambers of the Legislature.
Grassroots Advocates Behind the Campaign
The statewide advocacy campaign was organized by the non-profit Constructive Partnerships Unlimited, known as CP Unlimited, along with the New York Chapter of the Changing Spaces Campaign. That chapter was co-founded by Westchester parents Anthony and Jacqueline Scali, who began advocating after experiencing restroom barriers firsthand with their wheelchair-using son, Halston Media News reported. Disability rights organizations reported in June 2025 that an estimated 300,000 New Yorkers require assistive changing accommodations, a population that includes adults with developmental disabilities, aging seniors managing incontinence, and military veterans with service-connected injuries, according to Able News.
Who Would Have to Comply, and When
Under the bill, covered facilities are defined as commercial places of public amusement, including sports arenas, convention centers, exhibition halls, auditoriums, theaters, and permanent amusement parks, that have a maximum occupancy of 2,500 people or more, according to BillTrack50. Smaller commercial venues under that occupancy threshold would be excluded from the mandate.
The legislation lays out a phased implementation schedule: newly constructed venues must comply at the time of construction, renovated commercial venues must comply upon renovation after January 1, 2027, existing commercial facilities have until January 1, 2036, and state-owned public buildings have until January 1, 2037, per BillTrack50's bill tracking page. The bill also empowers the Office of General Services and the Chief Disability Officer to grant exemptions if installing a table is technically infeasible, conflicts with federal ADA standards, would cost under $20,000 on a renovation project, or would threaten historic property preservation.
Costs and a Growing National Trend
National accessibility data from October 2024 indicate that retrofitting an existing public restroom with a height-adjustable adult changing table costs approximately $14,000, while adding a table during new construction carries lower marginal costs, according to industry group Can-Dan. If Governor Hochul signs the bill, New York would join a growing list of states, including California, Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and Ohio, that have enacted mandates or building code standards requiring adult changing stations in public facilities.
The bill has passed both chambers of the Legislature, but it remains unclear whether Hochul will sign it as written or request amendments regarding compliance timelines or enforcement mechanisms. For now, Harckham and the coalition of advocates who spent years pushing the measure through Albany are waiting to see whether the Traveling with Dignity Act becomes law.
