with that, i will turn it over to neil friedman. i also want to state that susan mizner from the mayor's office of disability is here as well. >> thank you very much. that was a very impressive discussion of the issues. i think you practically steal my thunder. there are just a few things left that i can say. maybe i will preface it all with a couple of items. i was listening to gina give her speech. i was watching myself in the monitor. i saw my father there, who is 98 years old and just starting to use a walker. all i can think is we are all headed in that direction, and we had better get accessibility going pretty quickly. i know for his part he cannot navigate things like short steps to get into stores. although he is no longer actively out in the community, he does occasionally get out there. the other thing i want to say is that i found out -- i was giving a presentation last week and later when to have lunch at a small cafe which will remain unnamed. it has one of those proverbial four-inch steps in front of it. it is an old

presentation by regina dick- endrizzi and neil friedman. >> good evening, small business commissioners and building inspection commissioners. i am here before you this evening to talk about small businesses and disability access, and issues that have been before both of our commissions regarding, sort of, how do businesses get informed in addition to the lawsuits that have been transferring -- transpiring over

presentation by regina dick- endrizzi and neil friedman. >> good evening, small business commissioners and building inspection commissioners. i am here before you this evening to talk about small businesses and disability access, and issues that have been before both of our commissions regarding, sort of, how do businesses get informed in addition to the lawsuits that have been transferring -- transpiring over the last five years. over the last couple of years, our department's director day, my office, the mayor's office on disability -- we have been discussing what we can do to help educate our small businesses and de-mystify the requirements they need to abide by. what we have heard over the years, in terms of our small businesses and dealing with the requirements, is that there is a lack of understanding of