Senior center in Sunnyside expands

The senior center run by Sunnyside Community Services (SCS), a local organization, has acquired a bigger new award-winning space, allowing the facility to almost double its capacity.
The center, still located at its old address, 43-31 49th Street in Sunnyside, officially opened its new space on Thursday, September 4.
Previously, the center was housed on the second floor of SCS and had only 7,800 square feet at its disposal, whereas now, services are provided in a brand-new facility of 12,500 square feet on the first floor of the same building, explained Sue Fox, associate executive director for development at SCS.
This allows the center, whose construction and operations are almost entirely funded by the city, to accommodate up to 290 people at a time, Fox explained.
“The space is very flexible,” said SCS Executive Director Judy Zangwill, explaining that the $2.1 million center has movable walls, which allow the seniors to create study rooms of different sizes depending on the activities taking place at a given time.
Also, these walls are soundproof, which makes it easy to have people meditate in one room and practice dance in another, Zangwill added.
A year ago, the new facility received an award from the Queens Chamber of Commerce for its design, which was developed by Woertendyke Adjah Assocates, Inc., a design services firm in New York City, said Fox.
Besides beauty of interior, the center “gives people a social life and it also hooks them to a network of other services,” Fox explained.
SCS is an organization offering a variety of services to people of all ages. It started out in 1974 as a senior center in a church basement.