During this past heat wave that drenched the borough in sweat, Joan Marus, 79, took the free shuttle bus provided by the Sunnyside Community Senior Center instead of walking four blocks from her house to the center.
“Last week forget it,” Marus said, “it was terrible.”
This free transportation service and others are now also available to senior citizens who were displaced following the closing of nine senior centers across Queens on June 30.
“We provide [transportation] service to go to other shelters in the area,” said Judith Kleve, vice-president of older adult services at Catholic Charities Neighborhood Services.
The free shuttle rides started the morning of July 1, the day after the senior centers closed. Kleve said the CCNS is offering free transportation for senior citizens to open centers depending on where they live.
Among the participating senior centers is Sunnyside Community Senior Center on 39th Street and Queens Boulevard that offers rides to senior citizens in Sunnyside, Long Island City and Woodside.
Annie Davis, the transportation service coordinator for Sunnyside, said the center has received few requests for pick-ups from senior citizens displaced by the closed senior centers.
“Maybe one or two,” she said.
Marus, who has been a member of Sunnyside since 1995, said she did not know about the closing of senior centers in Queens or that there was even free transportation available for displaced senior citizens.
“It’s horrible, what are they supposed to do,” Marus said. “I don’t know what I would do if this placed closed. I don’t even want to think about it.”
Senior Citizens can call any local opened center that offers free shuttle rides to pick them up from their homes or they can meet with other seniors in one designated area and be picked up there.
