100-Year-Old Brooklyn Veteran Set Up With Free Air Conditioner

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — Mr. Been is having quite the summer.

The longtime Bed-Stuy resident started the season celebrating his 100th birthday on Juneteenth, surrounded by family and friends from the block he's called home for 92 years.

A week later, James Been, a World War II veteran, learned a fraudulent loan that had put that his home in foreclosure had been forgiven.

This week, after returning home from a short stay in the hospital, Mr. Been woke up Friday and watched City Council Member Robert Cornegy Jr. install a free air conditioner into his window.

"That is wonderful — I appreciate that with all my heart," Been said as Cornegy set up the A/C.

The free-standing air conditioner came courtesy of Cornegy and Brooklyn Neighborhood Services, who run what is known as a "naturally occurring retirement community" in Bed-Stuy.

The designation lets seniors stay in their homes while accessing a host of city-funded services, like healthcare, classes or outings. Bed-Stuy is the first "horizontal" NORC, or the first to be set up on a neighborhood level instead of "vertically" in a single building.

"One of the things that we suffer from in Bed-Stuy is that seniors are being displaced from their homes through deed theft and scams, but also because they can’t modify their homes to be able to use them," Cornegy said Friday.

The air conditioner and loan forgiveness, done with the help of Mobilizing for Justice attorneys, are two ways Cornegy said the neighborhood has helped Been stay in his home on Halsey Street, where he's lived for 92 years.

Cornegy said the idea for the air conditioner came during that 100th birthday celebration for Been.

"It was one of the hottest days and summer had just begun — we realized he didn’t have any air conditioning," Cornegy said.

"He never complained, he never said anything, but we realized we’re going to have some 90-degree days coming up."

Been was set up with a borrowed window air conditioner while Cornegy and Brooklyn Neighborhood Services got together to buy a free-standing one, which Cornegy said protects from home break-ins done by pushing through the window version.

"He’s been a pillar in the community," Cornegy said. "If he has another 100 years to live, it’s my goal to make sure those years are comfortable."

As far as those next 100 years, Been said Friday for now he's just grateful to have made it the first 100.

"I never knew I would make it, but I’m glad I made it," he said. "I enjoy every second of it."

Seniors can reach out to their local NORC, call 311, or the Department for the Aging to learn about resources available including city cooling centers and programs that assist those eligible to receive air conditioners.