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

The Riverdale Press

Editorial comment: Where must the budget ax fall?

Thursday, June 17, 2010

By Editorial

Publication & Publisher: The Riverdale Press

According to Ms. Schwartz- Leeper, many of the elderly who inhabit apartments in “wealthy” Riverdale are doing so on little more than Social Security payments, their bank accounts depleted long ago.

As the city budget stands, there just isn’t enough money to go around.

The choices the City Council faces are, frankly, impossible to make.

Even if every legislator were a King Solomon, every possible portioning out of the discretionary budget will leave someone in dire need. It is, after all, a zero-sum game.

A look at the needs of seniors helps explain why.

Lengthening lifespans are changing everything. And that’s probably an understatement.

Parts of Riverdale, especially in the south, around Spuyten Duyvil, are what’s known as NORCs: Naturally occurring retirement communities. That means so many people have grown old in their apartments here that south Florida has nothing on us.

Parts of Riverdale, especially in the south, around Spuyten Duyvil, are what’s known as NORCs: Naturally occurring retirement communities. That means so many people have grown old in their apartments here that south Florida has nothing on us.

However smartly many of them may have planned for their golden years, few would have had reason to believe they would make it to their mid-80s or even late 90s. Average life expectancy figures are just that, and they take into account everything from infant mortality figures to people who die in industrial accidents.

According to census figures (which are, admittedly, 10 years old) the only segment of the senior population that is growing is more than 77 years of age.

Some people who are living to great age are strong, and remain vibrant for the entirety of their lives, but many are not. Medicine and surgical techniques have added years to life, but they cannot yet hold back all the ravages of time. Many people are left weak or even disabled, needing help to carry out basic tasks such as tying a shoe, or getting around the house. Many suffer from dementia, either mild or severe.

Another problem for many of the very old is that however carefully they planned out financial security to carry them through to the end of life, that end has receded into an unknowable distance.

According to Ms. Schwartz-Leeper, many of the elderly who inhabit apartments in “wealthy” Riverdale are doing so on little more than Social Security payments, their bank accounts depleted long ago.

That is where senior centers come into people’s lives. Places like the Simon Center at the Riverdale YM-YWHA, RSS, the Marble Hill Senior Center, Riverdale Senior Center and others do much more than provide a warm or cool place for people to come together and play cards. In fact, while the entertainment and socialization provided by these places is important, they aren’t as important as feeding the people who arrive at the centers every day.

That two-dollar kosher lunch that’s mentioned ubiquitously in the Stepping Out section of this paper, under the Seniors heading, isn’t just an enticement to many — it’s a necessity.

As much as a quarter of the city’s spending on seniors will be cut if the current budget proposed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg becomes law on July 1, according to Bobbie Sackman of the Council of Senior Centers and Services of New York City Inc., an umbrella group that lobbies for the causes of seniors.

The money provided by the city comes in two forms, Ms. Sackman explained. There are set amounts paid for items like rent, transportation for clients and food. Those amounts have not changed in many years. In fact, the total amount of funding allocated to senior centers hasn’t changed since 1990, she said, with the average per center still around $350,000, with no regard for inflation since then.

To make up part of the difference, the City Council has discretionary funds that have, in the past, been passed around to senior centers and many other groups that provide services to the disabled or to children.

Imagine choosing between these causes.

Every year, it’s unclear if services for seniors are going to win enough funding to keep programs such as adult daycare running, Ms. Schwartz-Leeper said. Or even if the Council will use those discretionary money to kick in an additional 14 cents a plate to help cover the cost of that $2 lunch, mandated to contain a balanced diet, with protein and vegetables and fruit. It has for done so for years, but as times continue to get tougher, there’s no guarantee that the votes will be there to decide the needs of seniors outweigh the needs of others.

This situation must not continue. It cannot continue.

The way the city’s $65 billion budget is divided up, city employees in their various departments, their pensions and benefits come first and there is not much wiggle room in the contracts. The only way to pay less is through layoffs. Medicaid money isn’t discretionary, either. It is mandated by law.

Along with certain other fixed costs, those expenditures make up the vast majority of the budget, leaving little for even the most caring legislator to play with.

After threats of severe cuts, the state Legislature has decided — thanks in no small part to our own Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz — to restore a significant portion of funds to senior services in the year’s much-delayed annual budget. Of course there is no state budget, yet, but there’s reason to hope.

We can also hope that the city will yet decide that these older citizens are deserving of at least being fed.

With virtually no one willing to step forward and ask for new taxes, even if they are earmarked to help only the most vulnerable, the hope for the next two weeks is that whatever cuts are made, they won’t cause the patient to bleed to death.

Riverdale seniors, among others, held a rally at City Hall on Tuesday. Let’s hope they were heard.