January 29, 2014 - 11:54 AM
NEW YORK, N.Y. - Nine historic Broadway theatres will be more accessible to the disabled under an agreement signed by a major theatre chain and the federal government.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara (buh-RAH'-ruh) says the deal announced Wednesday with the Nederlander (NEE'-dur-lan-dur) Organization will eliminate hundreds of barriers to accessibility.
A similar deal was reached in 2003 with Shubert Theaters.
Bharara says the combined agreements cover more than 20 Broadway theatres.
The government says two of the theatres affected by the latest deal were built more than 100 years ago. Four others were constructed during the 1920s.
The theatres include the Nederlander, Gershwin, Brooks Atkinson, Lunt Fontanne, Marquis, Minskoff, Neil Simon, Palace and Richard Rodgers.
The Nederlander organization also will pay a $45,000 civil penalty.
News from © The Associated Press, 2014