Community center faces closure

The Astoria Houses Community Center is most likely in its final days of operation, and residents of the Astoria Houses are sad to see the center go. They say it’s the only facility that provides programs during after-school hours for their housing development’s children.
The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), the agency running the city’s public housing developments and their community-based services, said closing this center is part of a necessary cost-cutting package.
Unless new funding is found, the Astoria Houses Community Center, together with 17 others throughout New York City, will have to close no later than January 2009, said Howard Marder, spokesperson for NYCHA.
Every weekday, about 25 young children and 70 teenagers attend the center, located at 4-05 Astoria Boulevard, and employees help them with homework, serve them food and allow them to participate in other activities such as dance, sports and arts.
“There’s nothing for our kids to do - that’s the only outlet for them,” said Carmen Wynder, president of the Astoria Houses Tenants Association.
Astoria Houses is located in an underserved neighborhood, so if this center closes, the nearest place children can go for similar activities is the Boys & Girls Club on 21st Street and 30th Road - nearly nine blocks away, Wynder explained.
Without being supervised and with nothing to keep them busy in the afternoons, children will be more likely to get in trouble, Wynder said.
“The kids are gonna be home and they’ll be on the stairways and in the hallways again,” Wynder said. “They are jumping around. Things get broke. They just do things on people’s doors and run.”
The community center of the nearby Ravenswood Houses is also going to close by January 2009, said Marder. The Latimer Gardens Center, in Flushing, is the other community center in Queens that NYCHA plans to shut down.
NYCHA is closing the 18 community centers in order to cut costs. By January 2009, the agency will also eliminate 200 positions and stop funding grants to organizations for community-based services, Marder added.
He explained that these measures will result in savings of approximately $20 million, which will be reflected in the agency’s budget for the 2009 fiscal year.
“These creative actions will enable NYCHA to reduce its budget deficit by up to $50 million by 2011 and allow us to safeguard our core mission of preserving public housing,” Marder added.
The agency estimated that its budget deficit for fiscal year 2009 is $177.5 million, caused mostly by “chronic federal under funding as well as un-reimbursed costs and increases in non-discretionary labor costs.”
“We need to cut costs, but we need to do that responsibly and where it will minimize the hurt,” said Councilmember Peter Vallone, Jr., who represents the area. “This center provides resources that this community cannot get anywhere else. Astoria Houses has fought long and hard to improve the neighborhood and we cannot deal it such a crushing blow when we are so near success,” Vallone said.
He explained that he has secured $500,000 in city funds for a major renovation of the center. The renovation is currently in its design-phase, so if the center closes, the money already spent on design work will be lost, Vallone explained.
Residents of NYCHA would still be able to access the type of services provided by their community centers from different city agencies such as the Administration for Children’s Services, said Marder.
However, he was not available to explain whether the residents of the Astoria Houses in particular would have access to these services and whether these services would be available at the housing development.
Meanwhile, Wynder hopes that her housing development can find alternative funding to save its center. “If we can find a sponsor, they can take it over and run it for us,” she said.
She estimates that the center needs about $500,000 a year to provide services.