Five days a week, more than a hundred people crowd into the cramped dining halls at a senior center in the Bronx for lunch. Meanwhile, at a similar facility in Queens, only a few seniors show up for the free lunch served on weekdays. And at an upper Manhattan housing development, seniors say they didn’t even know a senior center existed–—or that it offered lunch before closing in 2010 because of budget cuts.
Three senior centers. Three different stories. Each reflects the varying range of services available – or not available – to seniors living in New York City public housing developments and the challenges providers have faced during a time of economic cutbacks. Of 122 senior centers within New York City Housing Authority developments, NYCHA operates 38 of them. The New York City Department for the Aging operates 77, and non-profit organizations operate seven, according to the NYCHA website.
In early 2011, 41 of the NYCHA senior centers funded by the Department for the Aging were slated to close. They were saved when the state restored $27 million of proposed budget cuts.
That was good news for the seniors who live in public housing, but it did not solve the overcrowding at the James Monroe Senior Center in the Bronx or restore funding to the centers at South Jamaica in Queens and Drew Hamilton in Manhattan. Although community organizers and state and city representatives are working to get increased funding for these and other centers, expectations of success do not run high. The problems facing these three centers offer a window into the struggles of low-income seniors during a national economic downturn.
Seniors line up for lunch at the James Monroe Senior Center on Dec. 5.
Overflowing in the South Bronx
By 12:09 PM on Dec. 5, 158 seniors had signed in to the James Monroe Senior Center, located at the Monroe Houses in the South Bronx. While many of them came for activities like bingo, movies and aerobics classes, 123 people had also signed up for the daily hot lunch.
According to NYCHA, 401 people age 62 and older live at the Monroe Houses. Some days so many of them show up for lunch that the center needs to borrow space from the childcare program next door, said senior center Assistant Director Franck LaBoy. He described the center as “grossly overcrowded.”
For years, LaBoy said, the center served lunch to around 125 seniors. Since July 2009, however, more than 150 people often show up to eat each day. The increased demand is largely due to the economic downturn and the center’s adoption of New York’s Food and Nutrition (FAN) program, which provides free food to eligible seniors, said LaBoy.
“There is more poverty,” he said. “There is more need for people to get lunch.”
On Dec. 5, the center’s menu included baked chicken, rice and beans. Typical meals offer meatballs, chicken stew or pork chops.
The staff plans to serve 130 lunches each day. When more people show up, “out of compassion the chefs cook more,” said LaBoy.
Staff members and seniors alike hope to see the center expand. Director Glisette Rivera dreams about someday having a larger dining room. “We have to do miracles to seat everyone at the same time,” she said.
“We need a big center,” echoed Carmen Santiago, who has volunteered at James Monroe for approximately 10 years. “That’s for sure.”
Rivera said she has been talking to local politicians and the Department for the Aging to try to get more room and funds for the center. “The will is there, but there is no funding,” LaBoy said. “The money just doesn’t appear.”
The increased attendance makes lunch less relaxing than it used to be for some residents.
“You can’t stay in the chair for too long because people are waiting,” said resident John Lopez, who has been coming to the center since 1999. “We come here to talk, to get along with people, but because of the lack of room, we have to rush. You can’t stay leisurely and take a one-hour lunch.”
Despite the overcrowding, Lopez still likes the welcoming atmosphere at the center. Most of his fellow seniors feel the same way.
“This is a family,” said Maria Cruz in Spanish. “I call men my sons, and I call women my daughters.”
“It’s pretty crowded, but I don’t mind it,” said Jimmy Pierce, who just started coming to the center four months ago. “The people here are great.”
“I’ve been to others, but I don’t feel good in them, so I stay here,” said Elba Mass, who has been coming to James Monroe for around six years. “I think it’s more friendly in here.”
The Monroe center is a “lifeline for many seniors in the Bronx,” U.S. Rep. Joe Crowley wrote in an e-mail. “It is…evident when you see just how many seniors rely on the center each and every day.”
For many, Monroe is the best option since the nearest senior center, at the Soundview Houses, is half a mile away. “It’s very difficult to wait for a bus in the cold,” said LaBoy.
Decisions about increasing the funding for James Monroe will have to wait until the spring, when the City Council begins processing budget requests for Fiscal Year 2013, said New York City Council Member Annabel Palma, from District 18, where James Monroe is located. However, she agreed that the center is in need of more room.
“You have over 100 seniors visiting that particular center every single day,” she said, “and they do need to have a bigger place.”
The empty dining room at the South Jamaica Senior Center on Nov. 29.
Staying afloat in Queens
When the South Jamaica Senior Center closed in June 2010 because of New York City budget cuts, Carol Hunt went on a mission to ensure it could continue to serve at least one meal a day. Some 300 people age 62 and older currently live in the South Jamaica Houses, according to the 2011 NYCHA Resident Data Book. Of those, 163 live alone.
“These people have aged in their apartments, and they’re at the lowest income and usually isolated, . . . so they are the most needy from my point of view,” said Hunt, the former director of the Jamaica Service Program for Older Adults, Inc., which sponsors the center. “If you’ve been involved with aging as long as I have, we know that one balanced meal a day has contributed to the longevity of older people.”
Opening the center for lunch was a top priority for Hunt, who launched a program called “off-site feeding.” Meals are cooked and prepared at the nearby Theodora G. Jackson adult center and then delivered to South Jamaica ready for seniors to eat.
The program represents no additional cost to the Jamaica Service Program. The organization receives meal funds from the city for its three fully operational senior centers in Queens, and it uses a portion of this budget to provide lunches at South Jamaica.
Before the closure, around 100 seniors came to the center each day according to Melissa Evans, the Associate Director for Administrative Services at the center. However, only one woman, Pearl Sartor, made the trip to the center for lunch on November 29. If the center reopened, she believes more seniors would come for lunch and other activities.
“We’d be here all day,” said Sartor. “You’re sitting in the house, nothing to do, winter is coming. You want to get out of the house and do something.”
South Jamaica had been open since 1958 and, like Monroe, offered programs such as aerobics classes, bingo tournaments, and holiday celebrations for local seniors. According to Hunt, the Department for the Aging made the decision to shut down the center because it was underutilized.
Jeanette Reed, a spokesperson for the Department for the Aging, said in an e-mail that the Department “procure[s] services through a competitive process.” She did not respond to requests for elaboration.
All lunches at South Jamaica consist of proportioned amounts of meat or protein, vegetables, carbohydrates, fruit and milk, according to Hunt. On November 29, the main dishes were chicken and rice.
Although many seniors who used to attend South Jamaica have since moved on to other centers, some still show up for lunch most days. Andrew Schecht, a Jamaica Service Program employee who helps run the lunch program, said the center has yet to have a day where no seniors show up to eat. Evans estimated that between 10 and 15 seniors get lunch at the center each day.
“The seniors, they come here, and I think their thoughts are maybe it will open again. I don’t want to say that’s not going to happen, but it’s not really our decision,” said Evans.
“A few [seniors] long for the old days,” echoed Schecht.
State Sen. Shirley Huntley, who represents New York’s 10th District, shares that hope. She said she has been reaching out to “people who can be helpful,” but remains realistic about the possibility of success.
“I’d love to see it reopen, because it was a place for the seniors to congregate,” she said. “Now, most of them who don’t have it, they sit in their houses and look out the window. One of the problems…is, like every place else, it’s all about the dollar. It’s all about money. We just have to generate dollars so we can support these programs.”
New York City Councilman Ruben Wills, who represents District 28 and grew up in South Jamaica Houses, would also like to see a fully functional senior center return to his old home.
“We’re really trying to deal with getting the center reopened,” he said. Wills acknowledged that it can’t happen overnight, but he remained optimistic that “with all of the elected officials in this area pulling for it,” South Jamaica Senior Center could eventually be fully functional again.
“Being in a housing complex without a center is a real cause for alarm,” he said.
The doors are closed at the Elders Wing, Drew Hamilton's former senior center, which shut down in June 2010.
Left alone at Drew Hamilton
Like the South Jamaica Senior Center, the Elders Wing of the Drew Hamilton community center closed in June 2010 after budget cuts by the Department for the Aging. No lunch service has returned, and this senior center in northern Manhattan is unlikely to reopen any time soon.
“A lot of senior centers have a lack of participation,” said Renee Lindquist, the director of the Drew Hamilton community center. “Some are booming. Others are lucky to get 20 or 30 [people].”
Attendance at the Elders Wing was lagging, even though 422 people age 62 and older live at Drew Hamilton, according to NYCHA. While it was open, the Elders Wing served daily lunches and holiday meals for those unable to be with their families. Workshops, classes on ceramics and painting, and even a game room with billiards tables were available.
Unfortunately, they didn’t draw a big crowd. Lindquist used to work at the senior center at the Marlboro houses in Gravesend, Brooklyn, where large groups of seniors signed up for less traditional classes like belly dancing and underwater photography.
“Seniors don’t want to feel old,” said Lindquist. “They know they’re old. They feel it in their bodies. They want to go somewhere where they can feel young and rejuvenated.”
Now, the only program for seniors at Drew Hamilton is a free class on basic computing offered through the community center’s computer lab. Around the corner from the lab, two doors with “Drew Hamilton Elders Wing” etched into the glass remain locked. An orange sign states “No Visitors Allowed.”
Barbara G. Barber, the president of Drew Hamilton’s Tenant Association, wants to change that. At a meeting in September, Barber pledged that any available funds should go towards reopening the senior center.
“She’s been talkin’ for the last year about gettin’ it back open but, you know… need the money,” said John Ellis, a Drew Hamilton resident and Tenant Association board member. Barber was unavailable for comment.
Anita Lal, the Drew Hamilton manager, said that she hasn’t heard of any new funds or plans for reopening the center. “They close senior centers and open new ones all the time,” said Lal, “but no one has gotten in touch with me.”
The biggest hurdle may be the continued lack of interest for a senior center at Drew Hamilton. One resident said that even when the Elders Wing was open, she would walk a few blocks south to a senior center that she feels provides a better sense of community.
Another senior tenant was unaware that the Elders Wing existed, but said he would check it out if it reopens.
“They’d have to let people know if it was open,” he said. “Some people too afraid to leave their apartment.”
To contact the writers:
Email eddie.j.small@gmail.com or via Twitter @Eddie_Small. Email lorenzofb8@gmail.com or via Twitter @lorenzoFB. Email ryanneal21@gmail.com or via Twitter @ryanWneal
