NYS Senator Eric Adams Convenes SOS - Save Our Seniors Press Conference and Rally

On Friday, March 18, 2011, NYS Senator Eric Adams was joined by a host of other elected officials at a press conference to denounce cuts in Title XX funding to senior centers. Title XX funds make up 25% of all funding for NYC senior centers; the diversion of this vital financial support will result in the closure of 105 New York City senior centers. 8,000 – 10,000 senior citizens will lose their center and the many benefits (such as meals, transportation, and social services) that these centers provide.

Senator Adams states: "Senior citizen centers provide a haven for the elderly citizens of our community, enabling them to maintain independence, camaraderie, and fulfillment in their lives. The reduction in state funding for ‘mandated’ services and the consequent diversion of financing used for ‘discretionary’ services will drastically weaken a necessary support system for our seniors that has been in place for more than twenty years. The centers are absolutely crucial to the welfare of the elderly; to eliminate these sites would compromise the basic social services on which a generation has come to depend as a lifeline.

“Our cause has made significant headway, as a proposal to restore most of the $25 million was introduced on Monday. However, we must make sure that this proposal is approved both by Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Cuomo. After decades of hard work providing for their families, senior citizens deserve fundamental services and protections so that they can continue to lead healthy and active lives. As New York’s population ages, the vital importance of the quality of our care for the elderly only increases. The dire economic condition of the State of New York requires severe budgetary constraints, but it is imperative that our senior citizens do not bear the brunt of this fiscal retrenchment.”