Edith Prentiss
# Edith Prentiss

Edith Prentiss (February 1, 1952 – March 16, 2021) was an American disability rights activist.

Prentiss fought for accessibility in New York City's bus and subway systems, as well as police stations, restaurants, and public parks.

## Early life and education

Prentiss was born in Central Islip, New York. She was one of six children of Robert Prentiss, an electrician, and Patricia Greenwood Prentiss, a social worker.

She graduated with a degree in sociology from Stony Brook University. She attended the College of Arts and Science at Miami University in Ohio.

## Career

One of her early jobs was as an outreach caseworker for ARC XVI, a senior services center in Fort Washington.

She appears in the documentary film The Biggest Obstacle, which follows disability rights activist Jessica Murray.

## Activism

Prentiss was a member of the community board for Washington Heights, Manhattan. She was also a founding member of the Advisory Committee for Transit Accessibility (ACTA), a volunteer group of community members set up to work with the New York City Transit Authority on a range of accessibility issues.

In 2004, Prentiss drew attention to the paucity of wheelchair-accessible taxis in New York. (At the time, there were currently three in use, and she described her chances of catching one as "like a unicorn".) The number subsequently increased to 231, and after a class action in which Prentiss was a plaintiff, the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission undertook to make the city's fleet 50% accessible by 2020. This deadline was missed with the COVID-19 pandemic said to be the reason.

## Disability

Prentiss had asthma, and in later life became diabetic. She started using a wheelchair in her late 40s as her asthma became severe.

## Awards and honors

In May 2021, she was inducted into the New York State Disability Rights Hall of Fame.

On July 22, 2021, the MTA honored Prentiss with a plaque on the 175th Street station elevator - her home station.

The filmmaker Arlene Schulman studied Prentiss for the last three years of her life. Schulman planned to create a documentary with the title Edith Prentiss: Hell on Wheels which Prentiss objected to as she thought it was too mild.

