BROOKLYN,<\/b> NY – Today, Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and Council Member Mark Treyger toured local senior centers, health facilities, and community hubs throughout the borough to bring attention to the over $6.7 million in funding to these invaluable New York City institutions. Among the visited locations were the Brooklyn Chinese-American Association (BCA) Senior Center, Jewish Community Council of Greater Coney Island Seaside Innovative Senior Center, New York Cancer Center, and Il Centro (FIAO).\u00a0 The FY 2017 budget includes a $30.85 million investment from the Council to support New York City\u2019s growing senior population, including $4.2 million to support outreach, rent subsidies, food and transportation services at the City\u2019s FTA centers and $2.5 million to support the Holocaust survivors living at or below the federal poverty line.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur seniors are a vital part of keeping the history of New York City alive, and that begins with ensuring that their health and safety needs are met,\u201d said Speaker Mark-Viverito<\/b>. \u201cThe aged population in the city continues to grow, and it is our duty to ensure that the resources they need to age in dignity are maintained. No senior should ever feel that this city is not working for them, and I look forward to continued work with the administration to fully address the home care and case management waitlists affecting area seniors in FY 2017, another successful objective in recent budget negotiations thanks to the strong leadership from Council Member Mark Treyger, Committee on Aging Chair Margaret Chin, and Finance Committee Chair Julissa Ferreras-Copeland.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAs the number of seniors in New York City continues to rise, we must work to ensure that the resources needed to care for our aged population are readily available,\u201d said Council Member Mark Treyger<\/b>. \u201cSeniors have worked hard to take care of their families. Now it is our time to take care of them. It is our responsibility to provide for the health, safety, and recreational needs of our seniors. I would like to thank Speaker Mark-Viverito for her leadership, and my colleagues in the City Council for their partnership in continuing to allocate funding to a necessary cause.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the strong support of Speaker Mark-Viverito and Chair Ferreras-Copeland, I am proud of the gains we have secured in this year\u2019s budget, which go a long way towards achieving our goal of permanently ending waitlists for vital case management and homecare services,\u201d said Committee on Aging Chair Margaret S. Chin<\/b>. \u201cThough we still have more work to do to restore aging funding back to pre-recessionary levels, I am gladdened by this budget\u2019s investment in the health and safety of our growing senior population, and look forward to continuing the fight on behalf of elder New Yorkers who are struggling to survive and thrive in the City they helped build.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen it comes to Seniors, this Council has put its money where its mouth is,\u201d said Finance Committee Chair Julissa Ferreras-Copeland<\/b>. The FY 17 budget contains investments that will work towards ending a waitlist for case management services, supporting vital retirement communities, and providing community based organizations working with seniors the resources they need to meet growing demand. I am proud to join my colleagues in highlighting these outreach programs in particular, and I thank Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, Chair Margaret Chin, and Councilmember Mark Treyger for their leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJewish Community Council of Greater Coney Island (JCCGCI), a community-based organization with a citywide scope, is sincerely grateful for today\u2019s visit from NYC Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito,\u201d saidRabbi Moshe Wiener, Executive Director of JCCGCI<\/b>. \u201cDuring this interactive tour of JCCGCI\u2019s Coney Island Seaside Innovative Senior Center, the Council Speaker observed the remarkable ethnic diversity of the senior center and actively participated in various enriching healthy aging activities (such as exercise, art, computer, dance, sewing and ESL instruction) enabled in part by funding enhancements provided by the NYC Council. The Council Speaker also viewed the restoration of JCCGCI\u2019s offices and greeted staff representing JCCGCI\u2019s senior citizen, vocational, educational, adult literacy and other programs and services assisting the most needy New Yorkers in all five boroughs – all of which benefit from NYC Council support, thanks to the leadership of Speaker Mark-Viverito and, locally, Councilman Mark Treyger and his colleagues in the Brooklyn Delegation and the Council\u2019s Jewish Caucus.\u201d<\/p>\n
“Thank you to Councilman Mark Treyger and Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito for paying a visit to our Bensonhurst Senior Center today,\u201d said Paul Mak, President and CEO of the BCA<\/b>. \u201cThe Center, though small, has been providing the much needed services to the rapidly growing Asian seniors residing in the Bensonhurst Asian community and has become an indispensable \u2018second home\u2019 to them. Thank you for acknowledging the problems and difficulties which our immigrant seniors have to go through when coping with the immense cultural differences and striving for a better life in this new country and creating immigrant senior initiative funding to support BCA’s mission in enhancing the senior services at the Center to meet their pressing needs.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BROOKLYN, NY – Today, Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and Council Member Mark Treyger toured local senior centers, health facilities, and community hubs throughout the borough to bring attention to the over $6.7 million in funding to these invaluable New York City institutions. Among the visited locations were the Brooklyn Chinese-American Association (BCA) Senior Center, Jewish Community Council of Greater Coney Island Seaside Innovative Senior Center, New York Cancer Center, and Il Centro (FIAO).\u00a0<\/p>\n
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