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Council candidates
demand reopening
plan for New York
City senior centers
BY STEPHEN WITT
Yankee games? You bet. But bingo games?
Out of the question.
While Mayor Bill de Blasio has been moving
full steam ahead with reopening the city to
government workers, tourists and New Yorkers
alike with social distancing and health
measures in place, there are no plans on the
table to reopen the city’s senior centers even
with proof of vaccination.
“We as seniors need to get out, especially to
talk, to laugh — that means so much to our bodies.
Laughter is the spirit of our life,” said senior
Peggy Wiley during a rally outside Alpha
Phi Alpha Senior Center in Cambria Heights,
Queens last month about a plan for reopening
the facility.
Now, three weeks after that rally, the city
still has no plan in place to reopen senior centers,
despite having vaccinated more than 64
percent of the city’s seniors to date. Vaccination
of more seniors, including the homebound,
is ongoing.
“While there are older New Yorkers who
have been vaccinated, there are many who are
not. We continue to consider everyone’s safety
and will continue to follow the science and the
city’s health guidance on congregate gatherings
and activities. It is also important to note
that the Mayor’s Executive Order 100, which
called for the closure of adult centers, remains
in effect,” said a Department for the Aging
(DFTA) spokesperson.
The continued lack of a plan for reopening
senior centers is gaining traction as an issue in
local City Council races.
“I’ve spoken to all the executive directors
of the senior center facilities in our area, and
they say they are ready to be open,” said James
Johnson, who is running to succeed term-limited
Councilman I. Daneek Miller in southeast
Queens. “They know that our elders need to be
back in these facilities.”
Johnson noted the mayor’s recent announcement
that city workers will be going back to
work in May, a signal that New York City will
be returning to business as usual, but he is yet
to announce a plan to open senior centers.
“Where is the plan to get our seniors back to
their routine?” Johnson said. “We understand
our elders are a vulnerable population, but one
year is extremely too long not to have a plan
today.”
Read more on PoliticsNY.com.
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | APRIL 30-MAY 6, 2021 11
Biden praises Meng
Rosenthal endorses
Sandra Ung
State Assemblyman Daniel
Rosenthal endorsed Sandra
Ung for City Council in the 20th
Council District.
Rosenthal said he was proud
to endorse Ung.
“Sandra has the experience,
ideas, and conviction to be the
leader we need in the City Council,”
Rosenthal said. “With our
city in crisis, we need more
leaders like Sandra who truly
put community service before
anything else.”
Ung said she was humbled to
receive his endorsement.
“The assemblyman has been
a steadfast advocate for funding
(From l. to r.) House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA),
Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY)
and speak at a press conference on Tuesday, April 13,
urging Congress to pass the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act.
vital community institutions
like libraries, and I look forward
to working with him to continue
this work for our community,”
Ung said.
Weprin, Richards announce
cross endorsement
Assemblymember David
Weprin, a New York City comptroller
candidate, and Queens
Borough President Donovan
Richards announced that they
cross endorsed each other in
their bids for office.
Weprin said he was proud to
accept Richards’ endorsement
and to offer him his.
“This endorsement not only
means a great deal to me as a
son of Queens, but because
I know the level of respect
to which Donovan is held
throughout the entire borough
by the more than 2 million residents
who have chosen to make
Queens their homes,” he said.
Richards called Weprin a
dedicated public servant who
will serve well as comptroller.
“His background in the private
sector, as the City Council
finance chair, and as a member
of the Assembly, has uniquely
prepared him for the challenges
of managing a complicated
financial system, protecting
the pensions of millions of New
Yorkers and serving as a watchdog
over the city’s agencies and
departments,” he said.
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
President Joe Biden commended Queens Congresswoman
Grace Meng and her colleagues for their leadership
in the fight against anti-Asian violence as the
Senate passed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act to protect
Asian Americans last week.
“I am grateful to Senator Hirono, Senator Duckworth,
Congresswoman Meng and CAPAC’s chair,
Congresswoman Chu, for their persistent and courageous
leadership on this issue — and I look forward to
swift consideration and passage in the House of Representatives,
and signing this important legislation into
law,” Biden said in a statement.
The president lauded the Senate and the leadership
of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
(CAPAC) for passing the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act
on Thursday, April 22, by an overwhelming margin,
receiving a vote of 94-1.
“This critical legislation will bring our nation one
step closer to achieving justice and equality for Asian
American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities.
I was happy to see the Senate add the bipartisan
Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act as an amendment,
which will further our national efforts to stand strongly
against acts of hate and violence,” Biden said.
For more than a year, according to Biden, far too
many Asian Americans have woken up each morning
increasingly fearful for their safety and the safety of
their loved ones having been scapegoated, harassed
and assaulted — some have even been killed.
“It has been over a year of living in fear for their
lives, as acts of anti-Asian bias and violence have accelerated
from coast to coast — an unconscionable
burden our fellow Americans have been forced to bear,
even as so many Asian Americans serve their communities
and our nation tirelessly on the front lines of the
pandemic.”
“Too often throughout our history, acts of hate and
violence directed at Asian Americans have been met
with silence,” Biden added. “Our nation must stand together
to speak out against hate, and declare unequivocally:
These acts are wrong. They are un-American.
And they must stop.”
Reach reporter Carlotta Mohamed by e-mail at
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com or by phone at (718)
260–4526.
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