Rather than spend money to make the city more accessible, New York City has decided to replace signage with the old accessibility symbol with a new one.

The one you've all seen:



The new one:



Er.

The major problems with this have already been pointed out in the comments, but to recap:

1. It's visually cluttered with the useless second wheel.
2. It looks like a Cubist Goatse.
3. If your posture was like that in an actual wheelchair, you would probably be falling out of it.
4. Wait, where's the back of the wheelchair?
5. It presents a patronizing view of all disabled people being inspirational wheelchair athletes or some such.

My problem is mainly #1 (hilariously ironic, considering the number of visually impaired people who will have difficulty reading it) and #5 (no matter how spunky you make your representation of disability, it still sucks to get around in a wheelchair in pretty much every place I've ever been to). It's yet another example of well-meaning people doing something to feel as though they're doing something.

By the way, there's nothing wrong with visually static icons in signage. Washroom signs (portraying able-bodied, gendered people) are pretty static looking:



(Though I vastly prefer the ones David Carson shows in this video, as they do away with silly gender essentialist norms altogether and focus on the practicalities.)

Anyway. Progress, or major headdesk moment: Discuss!