Catalpa YMCA Is Saved!

The Save the Catalpa YMCA committee had something special to cheer about at last weeks "Voices For Victory" rally.
On Thursday, June 5, Borough President Helen Marshall announced an agreement that would allow the Catalpa Y to remain open until August of 2004 with help from politicians, the community and the YMCA of Greater New York. In the meantime, the Save the Catalpa YMCA committee and local elected officials will be hard at work locating a community-based, educational or recreational non-profit organization that would buy the facility next year.
"It has always been everyones hope that we could reach a solution that would preserve quality services for the communities of Ridgewood and Glendale," Marshall said on Thursday.
The agreement came after a series of negotiations between Marshall, Councilmember Dennis Gallagher, Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan, Nancy Greco-Shearer of the Save the Y committee and YMCA president Paula Gavin. Under the terms of the agreement, still awaiting approval, the borough presidents office will create a committee of elected officials and community members to ensure that services are continued over the next 14 months and that a suitable buyer for the center can be found.
The bill for the capital improvement costs noted by Gavin will be handled through $100,000 raised by the Save the Catalpa YMCA committee, $150,000 contributed by Helen Marshall and $50,000 provided by Cathy Nolan.
At the June 6 rally, Assemblywoman Nolan expressed her happiness on behalf of the many parents and children who would be able to continue to utilize their neighborhood Y.
"Every working mother in Ridgewood knows, we got to have our Y," she said.
Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, also in attendance, pledged to apply for $100,000 in federal funding for programs at the Catalpa facility. She maintained that having a strong community center for children is how crime can really be stamped out. Councilman Gallagher was also out to show his support for the beloved community center by thanking the Greater YMCA of New York for allowing the compromise and the committee for all of its hard work and dedication.
The Catalpa YMCA, which serves approximately 2,500 teens and over 5,000 youngsters, was slated to close because of a growing deficit and inadequate space, but the community fought back. And for once, the community won.
"Councilman Gallagher, Assemblywoman Nolan, the Save the Catalpa Committee and I are committed to ensuring the continued ownership of the building by a local youth service provider," Helen Marshall said.