CSCS: Council of Senior Centers and Services of NYC, Inc.

Staten Island Advance Article

Thursday, May 27, 2010

By Lindsay Macklin

Publication & Publisher: Staten Island Advance

Staten Island Advance/Irving Silverstein A group protests proposed funding cuts to senior centers outside the West Brighton Senior Center. (Staten Island Advance/Irving Silverstein)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Chanting senior citizens, staff members and elected representatives rallied in front of the West Brighton Senior Center yesterday, pleading with the city to reconsider the decision to shut it down.

The center is one of four on Staten Island designated by the Department for the Aging for July 1 closure as a cost-saving measure.

A $3.3 million renovation was completed on the senior center in 2006.

"Why should the city spend millions of dollars on a center just to close it?" said the Rev. Eli D. Smith, the pastor of Shiloh A.M.E. Zion Church, West Brighton.

Dorothy Allen, 83, spoke for many: "Without this center, we are all going to stay home, rot and die. We don't want to go anywhere else."

The seniors said they want office-holders to know that they'll "remember in November."

"We will be out and we are strong enough to do some damage," said Mary Setzer, who is 72. "Help us now and we will help you keep your job."

City Councilwoman Debi Rose needed no convincing. "We won't allow this budget to throw grandma and grandpa under the bus," she vowed, "especially when there are other ways to generate money."

Republican congressional candidate Michael Grimm said that when senior citizens are involved, the issue becomes a moral one.

"Old age does not discriminate among Democrats, Republicans, liberals and conservatives," he said. "We will all be here one day. This is about what is right and wrong."