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

Our Town Article

Budget Ax May Close Lenox Hill Senior Center

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

By Megan Finnegan

Publication & Publisher: Our Town

Last week, the Department for the Aging released a “doomsday list” of 105 senior centers that will close this year if $25 million in state funding is not restored to the budget before it’s approved. While every borough will be affected, Manhattan will be hit hardest, losing 29 percent—a total of 31—of its centers.

On the Upper East Side, Lenox Hill Neighborhood House Senior Center on 70th Street—the only location on the East Side open seven days a week—is slated to close.

“Senior centers are so much more than the meals,” said Susan Moritz, director for senior services at Lenox Hill.

Lenox Hill provides exercise programs, foreign language classes, memory enhancement activities, chronic disease management education, arts projects and legal services for seniors, all included in the free membership. Meals cost $1.50 per person, but only for those who can afford it.

“We know that if people are socially isolated, it leads to them not eating properly, etcetera,” said Moritz. “When people are engaged and involved, they feel better, they take care of themselves, and it stops them from withering away.”

The 70th Street location serves 200 people every day, and the closest alternative is the Carter Burden Center for the Aging’s Luncheon Club and Senior Program on East 74th Street, which serves about 100 people per day.

“There’s no room for them in the Carter Burden Center even if they had the money,” said City Council Member Jessica Lappin, an outspoken advocate for older New Yorkers. She called the potential closings “unimaginable.”

“Last year, when some senior centers closed, it was with the understanding that there would be somewhere else for these people to go,” Lappin said. “There is no pretense that 8,000 seniors [the estimated number citywide who would be affected by the cuts] are going to be accommodated in other places. There’s no capacity for them; there’s no funding for them.”

Edita Nemes, a senior who gave her age as “one day older than yesterday,” said that she is fortunate enough to be able to afford a nice apartment and pay for food, but she still comes most days to Lenox Hill.

“This is my life saver. Mentally, it stimulates me,” said Nemes.

She described a time she had a health scare, and the manager at Lenox Hill made sure to reach her son in Chicago so he knew what happened.

Robert Valdez, 69, another Lenox Hill regular, said that he fears the direction the city is taking, which he sees as forcing seniors out entirely.

“I come here because there are people to talk to,” Valdez said. “This is a very important thing for me.”

Bob Kerrigan, 87, directs writing classes at the 70th Street center and Lenox Hill’s other location, at St. Peter’s Church on Lexington Avenue near 53rd Street. He said amazing work comes out of the workshops.

“I think that it’s a disgrace,” he said about the potential closing. “It is so necessary for so many people, it gives them a chance to socialize.”

Diana Rubenstein, 71, lost part of her spine and hip on one side, but shows up almost every day to sit in a special chair designated for her. She emphasized the importance of the programs and said that for many it’s a better alternative to assisted-living facilities.

“If you don’t learn and grow, nothing is viable,” said Rubenstein. “This is one of the only places you can go that you don’t feel out of place. It makes a disabled person feel welcome.”

According to the Department for the Aging, the list of cuts is final if the state doesn’t allocate the money. The department cut 30 percent from each community district to determine the worst-case scenario list, but is still hoping it won’t need to employ it.

“We are working hard to have this action reversed, but unless the state dollars are restored, DFTA will be forced to close up to 105 of its 256 senior centers,” said a department spokesperson in a statement.

The budget is scheduled to be finalized in April, and senior advocates are hoping that Governor Cuomo will get the message long before then and restore funding.

“My hope is that when the governor sees what the real impact on real people will be, that he will come around,” said Council Member Lappin.

Until then, Lenox Hill is encouraging its concerned visitors to write letters and make phone calls to legislators.

“I can’t tell you how many people have come up to me and said, ‘What do I do if this place closes?’” said Moritz. “I don’t have an answer.”