Radio Reading Services in New York State
To access reading services programs, listeners usually need a specially-tuned radio, which is often lent free of charge to eligible applicants. Please contact the individual reading services for more information about eligibility and programming.
Eastern New York
Northeast Radio Reading Service
59 Leonard Avenue
Plattsburgh, NY 12901
Phone: (518) 562-1954
Area served: North Country
Description: Rebroadcasts the In
Touch Network programming.
RISE
WMHT-RISE
4 Global View
Troy, NY 12180
Phone: (518) 880-3400
URL: http://www.wmht.org/rise/
Area served: The 13-county area surrounding Albany and the Capital Region.
Description: WMHT's 24-hour radio station for blind and print disabled
people in the Capital District and Hudson Valley region transmits on a
subcarrier of the main WMHT-FM signal. Through a specially tuned table-top
radio receiver, loaned free of charge to eligible applicants, listeners
have access to readings of local and national newspapers, popular periodicals
and books, as well as specialty programming.
In Touch Networks
15 West 65th Street
New York, NY 10023
Phone: (212) 769-6270
URL: http://intouchnetworks.org
Area served: New York metropolitan/tri-state area.
Description: In Touch is a not-for-profit corporation that provides a
national radio reading service, broadcasting articles from more than 100
newspapers and periodicals 24 hours a day. Listeners within a 55-mile
radius of New York City can pick up the closed-circuit signal on special
receivers, provided (for a fee) by In Touch. Beyond the 55-mile limit,
listeners can hear the broadcasts, via two communication satellites, through
their own FM receivers.
Central New York
Read-Out Radio Reading Service
P.O. Box 2400
Syracuse, NY 13220-2400
READ-OUT Coordinator: Joe McDonough
Phone: (315) 453-2424, ext. 255
URL: http://www.wcny.org/classicfm/readout.php
Area served: Syracuse, Watertown, Utica, Binghamton, Ithaca and their environs.
Description: READ-OUT is a radio reading service for the blind and print-handicapped
in the Central New York areas served by CLASSIC FM. Broadcasts feature
local newspapers, magazines, best sellers and books of local interest
- all read by trained volunteers. READ-OUT is a free service provided
by WCNY-TV. Its broadcasts can be heard
on special radio receivers loaned to eligible individuals on a first come,
first serve basis.
Western New York
WXXI Reachout Radio
280 State Street
Rochester, NY 14618
Phone: (716) 325-7500
URL: http://wxxi.org/about/radio.htm#reachout
Area served: Rochester
Description: WXXI Reachout Radio provides 24-hour-a-day readings of local and national newspapers, magazines, and books for people who are print-handicapped. The closed-circuit radio signal is accessible through a specially-tuned radio, which is provided free of charge to eligible applicants.
Niagara Frontier Radio Reading Service, Inc.
1199 Harlem Road
Cheektowaga, NY 14227
Phone: (716) 821-5555
URL: http://www.nfradioreading.com
Contact person: Robert Sikorski, President
Office fax number: (716) 821-0032
Area served: Western New York, Southern Ontario (Canada)
Description: The Niagara Frontier Radio Reading Service is a private, not-for-profit agency, which operates a special "radio station" for area people unable to read the printed matter that most of us take for granted. Volunteer Radio Readers broadcast daily readings of newspapers, magazines and books to area blind and print-handicapped persons, who are provided "reading radios." Typical Radio Reading volunteers come in for about 90 minutes to record a one-hour radio reading. The Niagara Frontier Radio Reading Service broadcast studios are at 1199 Harlem Road, Cheektowaga (between William and Clinton Streets). The Niagara Frontier Radio Reading Service is always looking for people who might like to become volunteer radio readers.