Statement by Senator Golden on Senate Budget Recommendation to Maintain Title Xx Funding for New York City Senior Centers

Albany – State Senator Martin J. Golden (R-C-I, Brooklyn), a member of the Senate Aging Committee, has issued the following statement regarding today's vote in the State Senate to approve a budget recommendation that would maintain the current level of Title XX Funding:

"The State Senate today decided that we will not allow the proposed Governor's $25 million cut to senior centers in the City of New York in our budget. Closing senior centers will be detrimental to the health and well-being of thousands of New Yorkers.

It is simply not an acceptable way of addressing the fiscal struggles facing our State next year and we hope that the State Assembly joins us in sending a budget recommendation to the Governor that also maintains the current level of funding for our senior centers. We all know how important a neighborhood senior center is to the health, well-being and livelihood of a senior citizen here in New York and such services must continue.”

Senator Golden, along with Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis (R-C-Brooklyn/Staten Island), are sponsors of a petition drive urging the Governor to keep Title XX funding as is, so to support the operation of more than 100 senior centers throughout New York City including the Bay Ridge Center for Older Adults, the Narrows Moose Lodge, and the Fort Hamilton-St. John’s Program.