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

Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Adams, Others Wants State To Keep ‘Millionaire’s Tax’

Friday, March 4 2011

By Raanan Geberer

Publication & Publisher: Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Judy Willig, executive director of
Heights and Hills (not a senior center,
but a case management agency), and
Jose Ortiz, executive director of the Red
Hook Senior Center
Eagle photo by Raanan Geberer

BOROUGH HALL — Seniors, senior center directors and elected officials poured into the Ceremonial Courtroom on Friday to express, in very strong language, their outrage over the proposed state cuts that would close more than 100 centers citywide by April.

The senior centers are vulnerable, according to the Council of Senior Centers and Services of New York City, because the program under which they receive money, Title XX, is not “mandated” for funding like many other social programs.

Even so, speaker after speaker told how the centers are more than a place where seniors can receive free meals — they’re often the only place where seniors, especially those who are isolated and/or disabled, can socialize.

And despite the fact that all of the elected officials there were Democrats, none of them appeared to have much love for Gov. Andrew Cuomo, also a Democrat, who proposed this year’s budget.

Many of the centers slated to lose funding are in Brooklyn. Although space prohibits this paper from listing them all, among them are the St. Charles Jubilee Senior Center in Brooklyn Heights, the Bay Ridge Center for Older Adults, the Red Hook Senior Center, the Shalom Senior Center in Crown Heights, JASA (Jewish Association for Services to the Aging) centers in Williamsburg and Luna Park, the Fort Greene Senior Action Center and the Midwood satellite office of the Senior Citizens League of Flatbush (which Borough President Marty Markowitz headed in his 20s).

‘Don’t Believe the Hype’

State Sen. Eric Adams (D-Crown Heights/Windsor Terrace) spoke for many of those there when he warned people: “Don’t believe the hype” about public approval of Cuomo’s performance. Just because people may have a positive attitude toward him in general, Adams said, doesn’t mean that they approve of his cuts to seniors, youth programs and others.

Statements about Cuomo’s popularity are being manipulated “by editorial boards whose parents don’t have to go to senior centers,” he said.

He ended by calling on Cuomo not to stop the “millionaire’s tax,” the resumption of which would produce $3 billion in funds that could easily pay for the $25 million needed to fund the senior centers. Many others made the same point

Jose Ortiz of the Red Hook Senior Center attacked the state and city administrations for suggesting that seniors whose centers are closed can go to similar facilities nearby. “Red Hook is one of the most isolated places in the city,” he said. “If our center closes, that’s it.”

Shimon Herz, director of the Shalom Senior Center, said, “It’s a place where someone from Russia can sit next to someone from South Carolina, where a Jewish person can sit next to a Christian person can sit next to a Muslim.”

Speaking about the St. Charles Jubilee Center (where he is a member), Leslie Lewis, criminal justice coordinator for the Borough President’s Office, said, “They have many functions beyond the meals — massages, an art club, a writing club, line dancing. Without it, many people would have nothing to do. For some of them, all their friends have died. Many are over 90.”

Lenore Friedman, director of the Senior Citizens League of Flatbush, said that the Midwood annex marked for closure costs very little to maintain. “All the meals are prepared at our main location, and there are only two full-time employees and one part-time person there,” she pointed out.

Youth vs. Seniors Unfair

Councilwoman Letitia James (D-Crown Heights/Prospect Heights), noting that the funds that were expected to be allocated for the senior centers were instead shifted to mandated programs for youths with problems, blamed the state for “putting youth against seniors.”

Both populations deserve to be fully funded, said James, who called for more demonstrations in the future. Indeed, Councilman Lew Fidler said the youth programs are being “savagely” cut as well.

Many speakers, including Borough President Markowitz, pointed out that a large number of “baby boomers” will join the senior population during the next 10 years, exploding the number of people who will need senior centers and other services.