BY JASON COHEN
For several years Lakshmee
Lachhman-Persad
worked in the travel and
tourism industry. But with
the boom of the Internet, she
changed course and has been
on a new path ever since.
The Morris Park resident,
who immigrated here from
Guyana, worked in travel
and tourism for a company in
Times Square. As many places
became obsolete because of
Expedia and Kayak, she realized
it was sink or swim.
“If you didn’t educate yourself
or go with the fl ow you,
would have been kicked out of
the industry,” she explained.
Lachhman-Persad enrolled
in a new program at NYU for
digital marketing and quickly
adapted to the changing times.
After that she left her full time
job and became a freelance
consultant for hotels and restaurants.
But the past year of the pandemic
has been hard. Some of
her clients are not reopening
and she lost her grandmother
to the coronavirus.
However, as COVID-19
wreaked havoc on the country,
Lachhman-Persad had
much more time on her hands
like many people. Being that
her sister Annie Lachhman
has cerebral palsy and is disabled,
they spent more time locally
exploring the accessibility
of parks and tourist sites
throughout the Bronx.
“When I fi rst started I
didn’t know what was accessible,”
she explained.
So, Lachhman-Persad took
the bull by the horns and began
visiting places such as the
Botanical Garden and Bronx
Zoo and fi guring out the best
ways for people with disablities
to navigate them.
BRONX TIMES R 72 EPORTER, MAY 7-13, 2021 BTR
Lachhman-Persad explained
that a person with a
disability is always curious
how they will be treated since
there is no representation of
people with disabilities in the
media. For the most part there
was no bad behavior towards
her family, but some places just
aren’t accessible.
While this doesn’t surprise
her since buildings in NYC
were built decades ago, her
goal is to inform people about
the issues through her platform,
AccessibleTravelNYC.
com and be a digtial tour guide
for families. Over the past couple
of years Lachhman-Persad
noticed many places do not
market their accessibility.
Recently, she published
“Accessible Guide to The New
York Botanical Garden” and
guides for the Bronx Zoo and
City Island. She also created
a blog, which contains useful
Lakshmee Lachman-Persad with her family at the Botanical Garden.
Courtesy of Lakshmee Lachman-Persad
information Bronx residents
with a disability can use.
“My role isn’t to get somebody
to fi x these things, that’s
the business owners role,” she
explained
Her work is also published
on NYCGO’s website and she is
especially proud that her family
was the fi rst featured on
how to explore all of New York
City from a wheelchair user’s
perspective.
Since Lachhman-Persad began
writing about accessibility,
families locally, nationwide
and worldwide have reached
out to her. She has helped them
plan trips and many are grateful
for her research.
Morris Park and city-wide
leading travel and tourism
accessibility advocate
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