Elderly Care Centers Slated To Close
Governor Andrew Cuomo is proposing more than $25 million in cuts to senior services in New York City.
The fate of more than a hundred senior centers in New York City is hanging in the balance, and that has a lot of older New Yorkers concerned. The Bloomberg administration is threatening closings because of proposed state budget cuts.
Mary Owens, Director of the Andrew Jackson Senior Center in the Bronx, took part in a rally at Borough Hall today. She said the centers provide more than just meals and activities. “This is their second home, and if you take that away, they’re going to be staying at home instead of interacting with each other, not being active members of their community.”
City Island resident Addie Cozzi said without the centers, people like her will be shut in. “They don’t come out of their house unless there is a reason, they come down, they sit in the lunch room, they do arts and crafts. It gets them out of the house, they laugh, we have sing-a-longs. That’s what keeps them in their 80s and 90s.”
WFUV's Marisa Galdi contributed to this report.
