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Read the press release here.

Stein Senior Center Finds Temporary Home in Gramercy Temple

By Mary Johnson | January 9, 2012 6:27pm
Jason Marder, 69, has been attending the Stein Senior Center's early Alzheimer's program for the past two years. That program was among those that will be offered in the center's temporary space at the East End Temple.
Jason Marder, 69, has been attending the Stein Senior Center's early Alzheimer's program for the past two years. That program was among those that will be offered in the center's temporary space at the East End Temple.
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DNAinfo/Mary Johnson

GRAMERCY — The Stein Senior Center—well-known in the Gramercy area for offering innovative programs such as belly dancing and improv—has found a temporary new home in the East End Temple.

After a weeklong closure to accommodate the move, the center opened on Monday inside the temple, located on East 17th Street between Second and Third avenues, with a limited menu of classes.

The shared space is a welcome relief for center employees and for loyal members, dozens of whom showed up on Monday to partake in the folk dancing and opera courses and free lunch, with a suggested donation of $2. But the loss of programming that accompanied the move has made some long for a permanent location for their beloved center. 

“The people who didn’t have access to our center last week were beside themselves,” said Jane Barry, the center’s executive director. “It’s a very vital place.”

The space-sharing arrangement is a temporary fix in the Stein Senior Center’s long journey to find a new home.

Last year, it lost its lease at the International Center for the Disabled on East 24th Street and First Avenue, where it had been since 1999, to make way for a new mental health clinic.

The center then found 5,000 square feet of open space on the second floor of the Uniformed Firefighters Association building on East 23rd Street between Second and Third avenues, but the new location requires an extensive renovation.

The construction should begin soon, Barry said, but there was a mix-up in the bidding process that has slowed progress to a crawl. Barry said she hopes to be in the new spot within the next several months. Until then, the temple will allow them to continue most of their work.

Barry said she has some concerns that the transition period could cause the center to lose members. The new location is just a few blocks away from their old space, but a few extra blocks can make an easy trip impossible for those with limited mobility. The center does not provide transportation services that could ease the commute.

Also, the center can only operate out of the temple for a few hours each day, meaning some of its programming had to be temporarily cut.

The center was forced to sacrifice its computer lab for seniors, its chorus, painting classes and hair cutting services, Barry said.

Charlotte Krasnoff, 88, who has been coming to center for 20 years, said her bridge group was on hiatus, too.

“We are all very upset, you can believe,” said Krasnoff, who called the center’s programming “exceptional.”

Krasnoff said she still plays at home with friends.

“But it’s not satisfying,” she added.

Another woman, who declined to give her name, said the change made her feel “discombobulated.”

But she came for the opera class on Monday, as she has for the past seven years. Although she was skeptical about how the center could accomplish so much in such a limited space, she hoped everything would turn out fine.

Despite the shake-up and the loss of programming, many seniors described the center as a lifeline and a community—one they were glad to have back in their lives.

Bess and Max Dubno, a couple in their 80s, said they come to the center from their home in nearby Peter Cooper Village for lunch every day.

“We enjoy their lunch. Very good, and we love the company,” said Bess.

“We made some nice friends,” she added. “We’re comfortable here.”

Jason Marder, 69, who has been involved in the center’s early Alzheimer’s program since it began two years ago, was welcomed by staff members with hugs and kisses for his first class in the new space on Monday.

Marder said the change had been hard on some who frequent the center, but not for him. His program, which offers art and exercise courses for those in the early stages of Alzheimer's, was among those that were spared a temporary cancellation.

“We threatened them, with large guns,” he joked.

Marder said he has seen a marked improvement in his own battle with Alzheimer’s since he began the program.

“We’re all a team. We’re all together, so we help each other,” Marder said. “We’re all here for the same thing, which is to keep our brains going.”