Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

26 Manhattan Senior Centers on Chopping Block

By DNAinfo Staff on March 4, 2011 7:46am  | Updated on March 4, 2011 8:10am

Deanna Moskowitz, 69, and Harry Weeda, in his early sixties, both said that closing any more senior centers would be a shame.
Deanna Moskowitz, 69, and Harry Weeda, in his early sixties, both said that closing any more senior centers would be a shame.
View Full Caption
DNAinfo/Jill Colvin

By Jill Colvin

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN — The city has identified 26 Manhattan senior centers it says it will be forced to close unless the state acts to restore funds.

The centers are among 105 of the 256 existing senior centers around the city that are on the chopping block, representing a potential cut of more than 40 percent. The city's Department of Aging says it needs the state to put back $25 million that was cut in Gov. Andrew Cuomo's preliminary budget for the coming fiscal year if it is to keep the centers open.

Among those are the Canaan Senior Service Center on Lenox Avenue, the Stein Senior Center on East 24th Street, the Judith White Senior Center on Barrow Street, and the Lenox Hill Senior Center on East 70th Street.

Department for the Aging Commissioner Lilliam Barrios-Paoli has warned that the cuts would be devastating for the estimated 28,000 seniors who rely on the centers for meals, activities and socializing every day.

"I think it would be traumatizing," Barrios-Paoli said, adding that for many who frequent the centers, the lunch they're served there is often the only meal they'll eat all day.

"To me, it’s devastating, not only for myself but for anybody else," said Herminia Toledo, 74, a regular at the Encore Senior Center in Midtown, which is not on the list.

She said that without the support of the centers, many seniors would never leave their homes or be forced onto the street.

The warnings come after Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that he intends tp reduce the city's senior center funding by nearly 30 percent.

A full list of the centers set to be closed is available here.