Greenwich Village Gazette

By Donna Lamb

As the City Council continues to hammer out the City’s 2010 fiscal budget, about three hundred seniors from across the city took to the steps of City Hall. Their message was loud and clear: stop the assault on services to older New Yorkers. The Mayor and City Council should restore the budget cuts to the NYC Department for the Aging (DFTA). This includes $60 million dollars of cuts, some of which already went into effect last December. The rest are scheduled to become effective July 1. There is an additional $8 million hole in senior center budgets as a result of the restructuring of the meals-on-wheels program in recent months.

"People in their 70s, 80s and 90s should not be made to bear the brunt of the City’s financial crisis," declared Bobbie Sackman, Director of Public Policy at the Council of Senior Centers and Services. "Seniors should not be forced to shoulder the closing of senior centers and the stripping away of senior center funding, the loss of a weekend meal program and less funding for meals-on-wheels, reduced transportation to the doctor and food shopping, as well as the discontinuance of elder abuse services, adult day services for people with Alzheimer's and many other crucial services."

Council Member Maria del Carmen Arroyo 9far left), chair of the City Council Committee on Aging, said that while she fully understands the challenges the City faces with the current fiscal crisis, she finds the proposed cuts to DFTA very troubling. "Senior services are a lifeline for one of the City's most vulnerable populations, one that must deal with difficult financial challenges as a matter of routine," she stated. "It is vital that we do everything possible to preserve services at levels that can provide our seniors with the support and stability they need."

Council Member Melissa Mark Viverito (far right), chair of the Subcommittee on Senior Centers, stated that she stands firmly with the City’s seniors and is doing everything she can to protect services for them. "New York’s aging population is growing rapidly," she pointed out. "Even in these difficult times it is imperative that we remain steadfast in our commitment to our seniors and not allow our centers and other neighborhood services to be compromised."

Adding his voice was Aging Committee member Mathieu Eugene (far left). He spoke of his 96-years-old mother who told him that the thing she enjoys the most these days is going to the senior center to socialize, have a good meal and play games with her friends. "You have given society your all," the councilmember said to the seniors. "You don't deserve these cuts. We are all in this together, and we are going to fight it together."

Several seniors spoke out as well, making vivid just how much their centers mean to them. One man declared that he is eighty years old, and going to the senior center makes him feel like a young boy. Another senior said, "Going to the center has been an important part of my life, bringing me great happiness, peace and comfort. Some of my friends are homebound and depend on fresh meals delivered to them by warmhearted people. Please don't cut money for our centers."

Following the rally, participants met with Speaker Christine Quinn and other individual councilmembers to plead their case that the City’s budget should not be balanced on the backs of seniors. Council Member Arroyo says she feels hopeful that they will accomplish their goal.

Photos by Donna Lamb

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