Beans, I don't know why people are telling you cabs are hard to get. They're all over - a sea of yellow on the sidewalks. The hardest times are right before or after the theater and on New Year's Eve.

NYC buses have improved and some open right at street level or the driver is able to lower the stairs for people. Even people in wheelchairs use buses consistently. You might find them more user-friendly than before.

Cabs average about $4 to $10 depending where you're going. I find that traveling crosstown is where the cost shoots up to $8-10 because of all the traffic and traffic lights.

Hope this helps.

Flynn -- Try getting a cab in midtown between 5 and 6:30pm on a weekday. Sea of yellow, yes, but fully occupied. The tourist unaware of the city's traffic rhythms can easily find him/herself unable to get a cab without walking a couple of avenues over (a long walk for Beans at the end of the day, I think) to a better location, or standing for 20 minutes with 4 other groups waiting for an available taxi.

Beans -

NY has great tourist buses. They go all around the city for a daily fee, stopping at all major attractions. You can get on and off as you like or just ride the whole time. I think one is called Big Apple Tours and Grayline, I believe, has one as well. You can sit either inside or upstairs outside for a great view if the weather is nice. City buses are great, too, and the maps are easily readable, but at rush hour they can get extremely crowded. My father is handicapped and when my folks visited NY, I rented a limo for about four hours. I got a good deal and we went wherever we wanted. Have a great time in NYC.

Can't Beans just get the cab driver's card (the cab the hotel gets him) and then if he will be in an area he suspects may be cab-less, call and order a cab 10 minutes before he's ready to leave? Carry around a cell phone.

Talk freinds into doing some seated stuff. maybe you can find a film festival. I will say the Angelika late at night is not exactly a cab-fest.

I went to the Charleston, SC a few years ago on crutches from a broken leg. You will look back on this trip and be proud of yourself for being such a tough, never-say-die kind of girl/guy!

My mother has a similar mobility problem and when she came to stay with me in NY, we took the Circle Line boat tour around the island which took 3 hours and you can sit down for the duration. Your hotel will be able to direct you to it.