Community Corner

Pols Wage Emotional Fight to Save Senior Centers

Lawmakers and New York City residents, including hundreds of seniors, canvassed the steps of City Hall on Friday to rally against senior center closings

New York City and state representatives held a rally today on the steps of City Hall to oppose Governor Cuomo’s budget proposal cuts that would close 105 senior centers throughout New York City.

Representing Central Brooklyn at the rally were State Senator Eric Adams, Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries, State Senator Velmanette Montgomery, Assemblywoman Annette Robinson, Council Member Letitia James, District Leader Robert Cornegy, Council Member Jumaane Williams and several others.

Hundreds of seniors – many in wheelchairs – canvassed the steps of City Hall. They came from The Bronx, The Lower East Side, Staten Island, Central Brooklyn, representing centers across all five boroughs to rally against what they feel is an unfair attempt to strip away a vital support system that they say their tax dollars have already paid for.

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“We go through this every year, where the senior centers are up for closing,” said Essie Douglas, 62, from Brownsville/Ocean Hill, Brooklyn. “So it’s time for this to stop. It’s time for money to be mandated just for us. Okay?

“Every year, we seniors have to come up to City Hall to fight for tax money that we have already paid into the system. So because we are frail, they think they can balance the budget on our backs. The billionaires are not being taxed fairly, and it’s time for this to stop.”

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The City recently banned the use of microphones at rallies. So lawmakers spoke in strained and emotional tones in front of a sea of the elderly, handicapped, war veterans, people who, for them, represented their mothers, their fathers, their grandparents and great-grandparents.

“Senior citizens should be able to live with dignity and respect and not in isolation,” said Assemblywoman Robinson. “We must protect seniors, we must protect our children. We have come to a place where we are [targeting] our most vulnerable: Our seniors and our children. What will our legacy be? How did you treat the children, and how did you treat the elderly? I implore my colleagues in government, that we do the right thing.”

Sew Kee Ying immigrated to New York City from Guang Dong, China in 1949. She is now 103 years old. Every day, from 9:00 am until 5:00 pm, she visits the Hamilton Madison House-Smith Senior Center in the Chinatown area of Manhattan's lower east side— an area with the second largest senior population in New York City.  

Ying attended the rally in a wheelchair, holding a sign pleading to keep her senior center open in Chinese script.

“None of the seniors want to close the center, because it has lunch every day; it’s a very good time for them,” said Linda Leung, a senior center coordinator at Hamilton Madison House. “It’s the time they have to talk to each other, do exercises every day. They like it.”

“Many of our program participants live alone and we will call if we haven’t seen them in a few days,” said Brenda Tong, director of Hamilton Madison House, in a written editorial. “We provide assistance if they encounter difficulties with their bills, their health insurance and all the other issues faced by the elderly.”

“Senior centers and their staff are critical in staving off depression and isolation within the aging population as well as helping our elderly remain in their own homes.”

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