Senior Citizens Rally Against Proposed Budget Cuts
Hundreds of City Senior Centers Could Close by Months End
The fate of more than a hundred senior centers in New York City remains on the line, and that has a lot of older New Yorkers concerned.
Older New Yorkers gathered outside of Bronx Borough Hall for a rally. The rally was in response to proposed state budget cuts that could shutter over a hundred senior centers by the end of March.
Director of the Andrew Jackson Senior Center in the Bronx, Mary Owens, took part in the protest. 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, not interacting with each other, and not being interactive members of their community” said Owens.
City Island resident Addie Cozzi also showed her support for the senior centers at the rally. She said, without the centers, people like her will be shut-ins. Cozzi also said “The seniors don’t come out of their house unless there’s a reason. They come down, sit in the lunchroom, and do arts and crafts.” She said, the centers get them out of their houses and doing activities that keeps them in their 80’s and 90’s.
Governor Andrew Cuomo is proposing more than twenty-five million dollars in cuts to senior services in New York City.
