Op-Ed Letters to the Editor
Giving back to our seniors
BY COREY JOHNSON
We owe everything we have to our seniors.
They built this City into what it is today, and
they spent their lives working to better the
lives of their families and their communities.
That’s why it is so important to make sure
they have everything they need to live happy,
healthy and secure lives, right here where they
belong, in their community. I’ve made that
one of my top priorities as the representative
of Council District 3.
I’m proud to have increased funding for all
our senior centers since taking offi ce in 2014,
and this includes creative programs that help
our seniors live full, active lives.
We funded a new Adult Choir program at
Greenwich House Senior Center and a theater
program at Hudson Guild Senior Center at the
NYCHA Elliot-Chelsea Houses.
This year we allocated $100,000 to purchase
two new meal delivery vans for Encore
Senior Center in Hell’s Kitchen. We more than
doubled the amount of funding received by
Penn South Program for Seniors.
Outside of our senior centers, we are also
funding some great programming for older
adults in the community.
Nancy Gabor’s acting program at Westbeth
Artists Housing is very popular, as is the
Dances For A Variable Population program at
the Tony Dapolito Recreation Center. These
programs have a tremendous positive impact
on the lives of local seniors.
Early in my term, I learned that many seniors
at Westbeth Artists Housing and West
Village Houses in the Village were in need of
case management services, especially those
people with complex needs who have to navigate
city agencies. Many of these seniors are
unable to travel to the Greenwich House to
see a case manager.
That’s why my offi ce allocated $85,000 to
the Greenwich House to provide on-site case
management services at Westbeth Artists
Housing and West Village Houses. These services
are already making a tremendous difference
for seniors who live there.
Supporting our seniors also means protecting
the services we already provide them. I am
especially proud of the work we did to save
the Greenwich House Judith C. White Senior
Center on Barrow Street from closure.
Great things can happen when communities
come together to solve tough problems
and we’ve seen that in District 3.
Last year, when Hartley House, the 121-
year-old settlement house in Hell’s Kitchen,
reluctantly listed its historic buildings for
sale, the community stepped up to the plate.
Founded in the era of the settlement house
movement, Hartley House has been serving
seniors and young people since 1897. I wasn’t
going to let these buildings go without a fi ght.
Working with the community, we rolled up
our sleeves and came up with an alternative
plan to save Hartley House. This involved creating
a partnership with Clinton Housing and
Hudson Guild, and allocating Council discretionary
funds to the project. As a result, these
properties were taken off the market and they
will now continue serving generations of seniors
in the community.
Another important role of a Council Member
is to connect seniors with important resources.
Every year we host SCRIE/DRIE
workshops, Medicare rights enrollment
events, fl u shot days, and in partnership with
Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer,
our annual “Fresh Food for Seniors Program,”
which provides fresh food for seniors at centers
throughout Council District 3.
For only $8, participants receive a bag of
fresh, locally grown produce. Last year, we
delivered 1,678 food bags to senior centers
throughout Council District 3. Now in our
sixth year, we have delivered 1,422 food bags
and are on pace to deliver our highest number
of food bags yet!
At the end of this month, I am also sponsoring
a Senior Resource Fair in partnership
with Council Member Helen Rosenthal. At
this event, constituents can connect with city
agencies, healthcare providers, non-profi t organizations,
and neighborhood groups that
provide services to seniors throughout Manhattan.
The fair will be held on Tuesday, Oct.
29 at the Project Find Clinton Senior Center,
located at 530 West 55th St. from 3:30 pm to
5:30 pm.
This is just some of the work we are doing
to help our local seniors thrive. How we treat
our seniors says a lot about us as a society. Our
seniors must be given the resources, respect,
and dignity that they deserve. That’s why I
am proud to work on behalf of our seniors, to
whom we owe so much.
Johnson represents Manhattan’s Council
District 3 and serves as New York City Council
Speaker.
LIKE FATHER,
LIKE SON
Donald Trump is following
in the footsteps of his father
Fred Trump, who according to
a 1927 New York Times article,
was arrested while marching
in the KKK contingent of a
Queens Memorial Day parade
that led to a riot.
The father Donald must
have adored, who trained him
and left him a real estate empire
business, had to be his
childhood model which he
now displays before the public.
President Trump has become
an inspiration for all the other
angry, bigoted, disturbed individuals
who act out their prejudice,
hatred, murder and mayhem
on a local, national level.
Trump’s critics and the media
totally ignore this personal,
understandable source of
Trump’s outspoken racist
white nationalism and bigotry.
Sy Schleimer
KNOWING THE
DIFFERENCE
With all due respect to my
fellow Americans, most of us
simply don’t know that a “liberal/
progressive” is not the
same thing as a “socialist.”
A true “socialist” is someone
who wants all of the businesses
and workplaces to be
owned and controlled by “the
state” or “the government” or
“the workers” or “the people”
and not by individuals and
groups of people who run
them for profi t as we have here
in the USA.
The overwhelming majority
of Democrats want our federal
government to spend more on
social programs to help the
lower and middle classes as
they struggle to survive and
pay their bills. They are not
“socialists.” They are “liberal/
progressives” who want our
market-based capitalist economic
system to become more
human (and not replaced) by
having our federal government
spend more to help the
lower and middle classes.
They know all too well that
there has never been a truly
“socialist” economy in which
socialism produced enough
wealth to meet people’s basic
needs. To put it simply, it has
never “worked” on a largescale.
Thus, while most Americans
seem not to be aware of
this, and while conservative-
Republican politicians and the
conservative news media do
not want the American people
to become aware of this, most
Democrats want our federal
government to be more like
those of almost every one of
our traditional allies (Canada
and western Europe) which
spend more than we do, in
proportion to their population
sizes, to help their citizens.
None of our allies are “socialist,”
they know it, and they
will tell you so.
Stewart B. Epstein
SAVING EAST
RIVER PARK
Editor’s note: The following
letter was submitted by
the author to Council Member
Carlina Rivera.
I’m one of the many advocates
trying to save the East
River Park from total Destruction
in Mark Hallum’s
photograph for this article (attached)
regarding the Oct 3
City Hall Meeting.
I was holding the crime
scene photos protest signs,
which weren’t taken away
from me. What’s being taken
away is a neglected but beautiful
and tranquil 60 acre park
serving the people since 1939.
The original and common
sense plan was to build a Sea
Wall along the whole length
east-end of FDR Drive. So
why did the city change gears
and will build a Sea Wall to
14th St.; then stop and then
resume the Sea Wall again
past Corlears Hook? What’s
the logic behind this?
Why would you destroy 2
miles of beautiful scenery,
wildlife, and take away free
and healthy activities for all
the people and instead City
Hall decides to use 19th Century
technology and build
a Levee that will cost more
money and is more hazardous,
and totally destructive?
In good conscience, Rivera,
vote NO and come out against
this terrible plan of destruction.
Andre Dupuis
Schneps Media October 17, 2019 15