Bed-Stuy Seniors Beg Mayor To Spare 'Underutilized' Center

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT, BROOKLYN — Bed-Stuy’s elderly residents are begging Mayor Bill de Blasio not to close a senior center that has become a second home to dozens of people they think of as an extended family.

"Where is your heart?" chanted the crowds of elderly Bed-Stuy residents who rallied outside the Sumner Senior Center on a chilly Thursday afternoon. "No, de Blasio, no!"

The Sumner Houses space on Park Avenue and Marcus Garvey Boulevard is one of 12 “underutilized” senior centers across New York City the mayor has proposed shutting down to shave $900,000 off the city's 2020 budget.

The mayor’s proposed $92.5 billion executive budget, first released in late April, calls for saving $916 million with a $19 million funding cut for extended learning time at city schools and $6 million in cuts to subsidies for cultural institutions.

But the term “underutilized” rankled seniors, who said the club is daily bustling with elderly residents who come for games of cards, choir practices, birthday parties and dinner clubs.

“I’m appalled at you, Mayor de Blasio, for taking this away from your seniors,” said acting Tenant Association president Adorn Dubose. “You hear us?”

Bed-Stuy city Councilman Robert Cornegy and state Assemblywoman Tremaine Wright both said the mayor’s office has provided no feedback as to how the Sumner Houses center was identified as underutilized.

“There’s no definition that we’ve been given,” Wright said. “It’s absolutely ridiculous.”

“The proposal doesn’t make much sense,” added Cornegy. “This is the epitome of displacement.”

A spokesperson from the Mayor's office clarified to Patch that the city's Department for the Aging chose to close some clubs because they had chronic health and safety issues, such as sewage back-ups and leaks, and were within three-quarters of a mile of another center.

The spokesperson did not immediately clarify what issues had been reported at Sumner, but said residents will be given free transportation to the Ridgewood/Bushwick center at 9 Noll St, less than a half mile away.

The seniors’ assertion that the Sumner Houses center provides vital resources to a large swath of Bed-Stuy’s elderly community was borne out by the large number of residents who rallied to protect it, even as a dozen more sat inside, playing cards, chatting, laughing and posing for photos together.

Resident Crystal Todd, who played Spades with her neighbors, said she’s tried and failed to find a replacement in case the city closes the center where she takes drama classes and participates in annual fashion shows.

“I’ve investigated and there’s no place like home,” said Todd. “And I call this place home.”

“I come in and see my sisters and brothers,” said Rachel Smith, 77. “Where are we going to go?”

“We’ll just stay in the house all day,” said Jannie Monroe, 79. “We’re sad. We really don’t want it to close.”

Cornegy, Wright and local elected officials said they intend to fight for the senior center as City Council and the mayor’s office negotiate the fiscal year 2020 budget in the months to follow.

“They say you judge a city morally by its budget,” said Community Board 3 district manager Henry Butler, who also came out to support the center.

“Mr. de Blasio, where are you at morally?”