For months, NBC 5 Responds has been working to help an elderly Bucktown man grappling with mobility issues.
The man has been applying for a disability parking spot outside his home, though each of requests were denied.
After months of investigating, NBC 5 Responds determined that the city made a mistake.
“For a while, nobody thought I was going to walk again,” 81-year-old Hubert Cruz said, who had back surgery several years ago. “If I try to walk, I get tired or fall down.”
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That means most days, Cruz doesn’t leave his house because he’s afraid he won’t be able to make it back.
“Sometimes I have to do like half-an-hour around the block to find a parking spot,” Cruz said.
Last summer, the Bucktown man applied with the City of Chicago to get a disability parking sign in front of his house.
Cruz met all of the qualifications laid out by the city, having a current disabled Illinois license plate with a home on a residential street that does not have access to off-street parking.
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But by November, when NBC 5 Responds first met Cruz, he told us his application had already been denied twice.
“I couldn't understand what was going on. They said it's the zoning,” Cruz said.
Cruz says he was then told that since his building had a garage, he didn’t qualify for a disability parking spot.
“I’m a renter, you know, the garage is rented to somebody else. I gave up. I was frustrated,” said Cruz.
NBC 5 Responds began investigating, reaching out to Cruz’s alderman, and the mayor's office for people with disabilities.
After months of calls and messages questioning the city’s rejections, a spokesperson for the city told NBC 5 Responds that the denials were made in error. They did not respond to on additional requests for information about those denials or the reversal.
“It was like a miracle,” said Cruz. “When I got home, I look up. Sure enough, there was a post.”
Cruz finally got his parking spot and a little bit of his independence back.
If your application for a disability parking sign is denied, consider contacting your alderman’s office. You may be eligible for an exemption.
NBC 5 Responds has also learned that 1st Ward Ald. Daniel La Spata is working with the Committee on Pedestrian and Traffic Safety to reform many aspects of the City's signage and related policy development.
