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New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. testifies on April 18, 2008 before the New York State Assembly Standing Committees on Aging, Cities and Consumer Affairs and Protection regarding the proposed consolidation of senior services and centers throughout New York City.                                                                                        Photo Credit: Paul Brumlik

New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. testified today at a New York State Assembly hearing concerning a New York City Department for the Aging (DFTA) proposal to reorganize service delivery to New York City senior citizens.

“I agree with DFTA and many New Yorkers that it’s time to move our senior centers toward a more comprehensive promotion of healthy aging,” Thompson said in testimony. “But these issues demand a more thorough and considered approach.”

Thompson testified in Lower Manhattan before the Assembly’s Standing Committees on Aging, Cities, and Consumer Affairs and Protection, and the Subcommittee on Outreach and Oversight of Senior Citizen Programs. You can view the testimony – and the Comptroller’s letter in March to DFTA on its plan – at www.comptroller.nyc.gov.

In his testimony, Thompson credited Mayor Bloomberg and his administration for listening to the Comptroller’s recommendation to delay its plant to issue a Request for Proposals that would fundamentally alter contracts for the delivery of meals to homebound seniors, and also could lead to the closing or restructuring of many of the City’s 329 senior centers.

“Considering the fact that New York City’s senior population is estimated to grow by an incredible 44 percent by the year 2030, I agree with DFTA and many New Yorkers that it’s time to move our senior centers toward a more comprehensive promotion of healthy aging,” he testified.
 
The Comptroller noted: “DFTA appears to believe that close to 45% of all senior centers are underutilized, but this calculation is based on the number of meals served at the centers. Instead, it should be based on the number and diversity of programs offered and the total number of seniors a center reaches each month. Using meal counts as the sole basis to determine a center’s utilization rate makes no sense. Given that these so-called underutilized centers appear to be candidates for closure or consolidation, DFTA must find better ways to measure center success.”

While noting the City’s postponement until September of this year, the Comptroller said this “luxury of time” should give all parties more time to ensure that the City develops a more thorough plan and consults all involved stakeholders.

Concluded Thompson: “Good public policy demands that we develop an appropriate model of how best to serve our seniors today and to accommodate the population increases of tomorrow. We must ensure that New York City senior centers are not closed, that DFTA’s Meals-On-Wheels program is not consolidated, and that New York City seniors do not get shortchanged.”

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