State Sen. Jessica Ramos joined around 200 seniors at the Elmhurst Older Adults Center Thursday afternoon to “cut the ribbon” for a new sound system that staff say will improve communication and recreational activities at the center.
Ramos, along with senior center staff and representatives from the Institute for the Puerto Rican/Hispanic Elderly Inc. (IPRHE), unveiled the new sound system at the center at 75-01 Broadway, in Elmhurst on Thursday afternoon.
Staff said the center’s previous sound system often broke down, causing communication difficulties or impacting recreational events in the center’s main hall, such as karaoke and dancing.
The new sound system, made available through $4,000 of discretionary funding from Ramos’s office, will enable staff to communicate effectively with seniors who use the center, said the center’s assistant director Erik Eitel.
“It (the upgrade) is very important,” Eitel said. “I came on board here three years ago and during that time, it was very difficult trying to speak to seniors with the old system that we had. It kept breaking down and it wasn’t effective enough.”
Eitel said the new sound system will allow the center to improve the regular cultural events it hosts, as well as improve entertainment for seniors.
Catiria Ayende Colon, an administrator with IPRHE, said the new system would allow seniors who are hard of hearing and use a hearing aid to remain informed about updates in the center and in the local area.
Ayende Colon said the new system would improve communication about a number of issues, from information about meals at the center to cultural events in the surrounding area. She said it would also enhance entertainment at the center by improving music quality.
“The music is better now, clearer. We don’t hear people talking over the music anymore,” Ayende Colon said.
Ramos, meanwhile, said the investment is part of a larger effort to ensure that senior centers in Queens are fully funded.
Ramos, who spent over 20 minutes talking to seniors following Thursday’s ribbon-cutting, said members of the Elmhurst Older Adults Center had complained about the quality of chairs and meals and called for the center to be open longer.
“They want longer hours in order to hang out here with their friends, be in a safe place. They want a better air conditioning system,” Ramos told QNS.
Ramos said some seniors have asked that the center collaborate with local restaurants to provide “cultural competence” rather than contracting out meal services.
She said she is actively exploring how such a measure would work in both schools and senior centers.
“I just think they deserve all the dignity that retirement should afford them,” Ramos said.
Ramos added that seniors “increasingly rely” on senior centers as the city’s cost-of-living expenses continue to rise and said such centers play a “very important” role in the community. However, she said funding for senior centers is on the “chopping block” and said it is imperative that centers receive the funding they need.
In March, hundreds of seniors gathered at Queens Borough Hall to protest City Hall’s proposed $102 million budget cut to the New York City Department for the Aging (DFTA)—a reduction that advocates warn could lead to the closure of up to 90 senior centers across the city.
Organized by the nonprofit LiveOn NY, the event called on Mayor Eric Adams to reverse the proposed cuts and invest $2.3 billion in nutrition, housing, and community services for the city’s aging population.
