Dozens Rally to Save Washington Heights Senior Center

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — Residents and politicians took to street outside the ARC Fort Washington Senior Center on Thursday to protest the proposed closing of the facility.

If the center at 4111 Broadway in Washington Heights closes, thousands of senior citizens are at risk of losing valuable services. The nearest similar facility is about 12 blocks away, said ARC's executive director Fern Hertzberg, which is not within walking distance for the center's seniors.

It's certainly too far to walk for 103-year-old Zoila Medina, one of dozens picketing outside the senior center Thursday afternoon to protest the landlord's decision not to renew the center's lease.

Thursday's rally was the second protest calling on the building's landlord, Christ Church, to renew the lease for ARC, which expires Dec. 31. Hertzberg had been trying to renegotiate the center's lease for three years when she told Christ Church that she had raised money for building improvements.

But the landlord's response wasn't what she expected — they told her to give the money back to the city.

"Our senior center has served this community for over four decades, providing hot meals, social work services, transportation and activities to thousands of seniors annually, and we want to stay here so we can continue to serve this community for decades to come," Hertzberg said Thursday.

Hertzberg estimated that the center serves nearly 4,000 seniors residing anywhere from 110th street to 220th street. The center, founded in 1972, has operated out of Christ Church on 4111 Broadway for 15 years. The church has offered ARC a month-by-month lease until June, but Hertzberg said the center would need a more secure lease. The month-by-month lease would allow the Church to evict the center with only 30 days notice.

Nearly every uptown Democrat currently serving or running for elected office showed up at the rally. But despite the upcoming primary election, the politicians insisted the heavy presence isn't about showing face, but supporting the elderly residents of the community.

"This is not about politics, it's about seniors who live in our community," said Robert Jackson, a candidate for State Senate, after the rally.

Two other candidates for the 31st State Senate District, Marisol Alcantara and Luis Tejada, also attended the rally to show support for the senior center.

The rally was organized by City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez and State Sen. Adriano Espaillat, who both spoke against the landlord's decision to not renew the center's lease.

Rodriguez called out the building's landlord for using phony excuses as to why they can't offer the center a secure lease.

"The argument that they are using is they have to do some major capital improvements," Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez said that he was prepared to work with the city Department for the Aging to allocate as much as $5 million in the next fiscal budget for the improvements on the condition that the center would stay in the building.

"I don't control the process but I am committed to dedicating all capital resources that I have to renovate the center if the excuse is true that they have to do some capital improvements," Rodriguez said.

Espaillat shared a hunch that the building's landlords don't want to extend the center's lease because they have desires to redevelop the site into luxury housing units. Espaillat promised to fight "tooth and nail" against the landlord should that hunch prove to be accurate.

"We will fight to keep this four-decade old institution right here in Washington Heights, and when this community comes together there is nothing we cannot achieve," Espaillat said.

Photos: Patch