Advocates honor National White Cane Awareness Day with a new pedestrian signal in Sleepy Hollow
National White Cane Awareness Day emphasizes the importance of tools, such as a white cane, for those who are visually impaired on blind.
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Tuesday marked National White Cane Awareness Day, and advocates across Westchester County highlighted its importance in Sleepy Hollow.
National White Cane Awareness Day emphasizes the importance of tools, such as a white cane, for those who are visually impaired on blind.
"People that use the white cane can be completely blind or like myself, have some vision," says Rodney Stanford, president of the Westchester Council of the Blind.
On Tuesday, advocates honored the day by celebrating a new accessible pedestrian signal on Beekman Avenue and Washington Street in Sleepy Hollow.
To Rita Pulsoni, who has been blind since she was a child, it's important to have a new signal like this near her home.
"It feels wonderful because I can go up to the pedestrian light and press it," says Pulsoni.
Pulsoni has been pushing for this new signal for five years.
"Washington Street is busy also, but not as busy as Beekman Avenue," she says.
Both Pulsoni and the Westchester Council of the Blind emphasized the importance of advocacy both on National White Cane Awareness Day and year-round.
"It's important for us for safety reasons because we want motorists and even other pedestrians to be aware that we're out there," says Stanford.
Advocates said there aren't enough crosswalks like this one in the county, so they hope to have more in the future.
"It's really a safety issue for people crossing the street," says Stanford.
