CATHERINE M. LOZADA
Next week, Queens is saying goodbye to 10 senior centers.
On June 30, Woodhaven Senior Center in Ozone Park; Astoria Senior Center; St. Mary’s Senior Center in Long Island City; Jackson Heights Senior Center; Whitestone Senior Center; Conlon Senior Center in Jamaica; Foster Laurie Senior Center in St. Albans; Holliswood Senior Center and South Jamaica Senior Center are all slated to close.
In a statement, the Department for the Aging said, “While DFTA is pleased that Title XX funds were restored, we continue to work to minimize the impact of the state’s proposed cuts to city aid, which total $1.3 billion. DFTA will move forward with senior center closures, and we remain optimistic that our partners in the City Council will be able to maintain the discretionary funding that helps support our network of senior centers and other services so vital to the well-being of the city’s older adults.”
The news comes as a devastating blow after State Senator Joe Addabbo and Assemblymember Michele Titus held a rally outside the Wakefield Senior Center at 135-45 Lefferts Boulevard on June 11 with 35 of its members in an effort to try to keep the center open.
“Wakefield, like many other senior centers, offers its members free programs and services that, among other things, help them comprehend legal documents and lead successful independent lives. This center serves as a lifeline for thousands of seniors and lets them stay in their community and homes they’ve invested in for years,” Titus said.
Addabbo said that there is a need for even more senior centers as Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s PlaNYC 2030 projects a 44 percent increase in New Yorkers over age 65 in the next 20 years.
“Seniors who saw no increase in their Social Security and who are so concerned about the future of their health care programs are now facing locked doors on their local centers,” Addabbo said. “I don’t believe this is any way to treat our seniors. For as the senior population is increasing, our city wants to decrease their centers. That’s a wrong formula.”
Deborah Hoffer, Project Director of Catholic Charities Neighborhood Services (CCNS), said free shuttle service will be available to the sister center in Ozone Park, where there is enough space to accommodate everyone.
“Every senior citizen will be taken care of,” Hoffer said.
