By Joe Anuta
The opening day celebration for a long-awaited senior center Friday may double as the farewell party unless a new bill is signed by the governor.
On March 3, the Woodhaven-Richmond Hill Senior Center appeared on a list of centers the city planned to close due to budget cuts — just a week before it was set to officially open.
“We were shocked and distraught that a center like this was on the list,” said Judith Kleve of Catholic Charities Neighborhood Services. “It’s bittersweet. We’re concerned about the future.”
Seniors who use the center, at 78-15 Jamaica Ave., have been waiting for it to open for a year and a half. But now it is among 22 to close in the borough, including the Forest Hills Community House Senior Center, at 108-25 62nd Drive; Self Help Maspeth Self Help Community Services, at 69-61 Grand Ave.; and Young Israel Forest Hills Senior League, at 68-07 Burns St.
But the state Assembly passed a bill Tuesday to allocate enough federal funding to save all the senior centers across the borough.
Assemblyman Michael Miller (D-Woodhaven) said the federal money, called Title XX funding, has traditionally been used to finance senior centers. But in the past few years, the state has used it for other areas. This year the Assembly wants the $25 million to go back to funding the senior centers, Miller said.
“We have to make sure this center and all centers stay open,” he said. “Where else would they go? They would be sitting alone in their homes. What kind of a retirement is that?”
But Mayor Michael Bloomberg said his hands are tied since Albany is sending the city less money.
“The entire list is a result of a cut in state funding,” said Mark La Vorgna, a spokesman for the mayor. “It includes a large major cut in senior center funding as a part of an over $400 million cut in social services.”
La Vorgna said the mayor has tried to compensate for decreased state funds with $125 million in city dollars.
“We don’t have the ability to fill the whole area,” he said. “We’ve gone through nine rounds of budget cuts. Eventually you continue to cut and very quickly run out of options.”
The Assembly bill has the potential to save the centers, but still must pass in the state Senate, a prospect that a spokesman for Miller said is far from guaranteed.
“I don’t think it will pass as it’s written,” said Nick Roloson. “[Senate Republicans] have said we all have to share the sacrifice, and we have to cut dramatically through every budget. I can only imagine they would say the same thing about senior centers.”
City Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz (D-Forest Hills), who spoke at Friday’s event, has also called on the city to keep the Forest Hills Community House Senior Center open since it is the only senior center that serves Glatt Kosher food.
“I am doing everything in my power to make sure this doesn’t happen,” she said at a March 9 Community Board 6 meeting. “[Glatt Kosher] is a different food. We can’t have this.”
And many of the seniors were not happy about the prospect of their new hang-out closing down either. Stanistacra Adach has lived in Woodhaven for 22 years. She has been a widow for the last 11 years and wondered what she would do without the senior center.
“I come here to get gossip,” she said. “What will I do now?”
Reach reporter Joe Anuta by e-mail at januta@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.
