Politics & Government

Back From the Brink! Local Senior Center to Stay Open

Willoughby Senior Center was taken off the chopping block after a budget compromise in Albany.

A beloved senior center in Fort Greene will survive statewide budget cuts, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Monday.

Earlier this month, Cuomo’s propsed cutting funding to 105 senior centers in the city, including the Willoughby Senior Center on N. Portland Avenue in the Walt Whitman houses.

But a compromise in Albany restored the funding, saving the senior center between Myrtle and Park avenues that provides meals, games, dance classes, computer labs, and exercise for people over 60. 

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“I believe this budget puts us on the right path," Cuomo said. "[It] makes tough choices.”

When the budget was first announced, Brenda Johnson, the executive director of the Willoughby Senior Center, feared the worst.

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“It would affect the seniors' socialization, their feeding themselves — just keeping them alive and active!” Johnson, 63, said at the time. “I can barely talk about it I’m so upset.”

She added that the center served as a vital refuge and meeting place for longtime residents of the Whitman and Ingersoll in the middle of the rapidly changing neighborhood.

The potential elimination of the senior center funding — called Title XX — led numerous local pols to .

“We stand on the shoulders of these seniors, they are the backbone of our community,” said Councilwoman Letitia James, D-Fort Greene. “These parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles have paid their dues.”

The fight over senior center now appears to be over, but many other familiar city services remain in jeopardy.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg called Cuomo’s budget “an outrage” on Monday, and said that it could lead to the layoffs of thousands of teachers.

A call to Johnson and State Senator Velmanette Montgomery’s office were not returned.


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