Resilient Greenwich House continues to serve seniors
BY TEQUILA MINSKY
As New York creeps toward normalcy,
Greenwich House (GH) continues to
provide a multitude of services for
seniors, creatively adapting to the new normal.
The on-site lunch program, which had been
suspended in March 2020, restarted in July
with take-out lunches provided at all the GH
centers—Judith White (Barrow Street), Our
Lady of Pompeii (OLP), Independence Plaza,
and 20 Washington Square North (WSN).
Sit-down lunches can be had in all but Judith
White.
People like the option, GH staff discovered,
to drop in, pick up their lunch, or stop to meet
and eat with a few friends — at this point, it’s
two to a table.
“It’s better than the timed seatings,” said
Laura Marceca, director at Washington
Square North. Lunches are served there from
12 to 2 p.m.
“We wrote a proposal (for the new budget
cycle of Department of Aging) in order that
older adults could ‘drop-in’ at any time during
lunch serving hours and additionally, the
proposal includes breakfast at OLP and dinner
at WSN,” Marceca said.
Regarding classes
Before the pandemic, there were 40-50
classes. Now, across all the centers, there are
During a Greenwich House evening of music and theatre, the audience is taken
through a few physical moves.
30 on Zoom, 12 in-person and a number that
are hybrid.
Classes range from the nationally recognized
comedy class (closed, but they’re adding a new
session), Shakespeare, fi lm discussion with a
fi lm viewing link, opera, art history, French,
Italian, creative writing and a theatre workshop
(a form of art, activism and community
engagement.)
Hands-on arts classes include Chinese painting,
book making, jewelry, and an open studio
workshop.
There are 18 classes of physical activity — inperson,
Zoom or hybrid that include many yoga
PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY
classes, tai chi, and ballet (Ballet Trocedero).
Two of these classes are being held outdoors
in Washington Square Park — Movement at
Garibaldi Plaza, Tuesdays at 9:30 a.m. and tai
chi at noon on Fridays across from Holley statue.
New directions
Just three months before COVID changed everything
in March 2020, new CEO and Executive
Director Darren Bloch joined Greenwich
House leadership. With a strong background
in public service and many contacts, he faced
the challenges undaunted.
“There was so much to navigate,” he says.
His concerns were primarily to keep safe
peers and neighbors served, as well as ensuring
continuity of services including mental health
counseling and social engagement. The new
director is looking forward to when more on-site
in-person activities take place.
Bloch reports how the Department of Aging
accepted Greenwich House’s expanded
proposal for support of its senior center sites
and services.
Among some new plans in the works will
be the addition of an Older Adult Center at
Westbeth to join the Greenwich House campus.
The Westbeth site will offer lunches on Tuesdays
through Saturdays and will also focus on social
services. Greenwich House is looking for a
director for this site (its job offering is listed
on their website). Part of GH’s proposal adds
new programming options across the network
of sites. Within a slightly new structure, GH
senior centers’ locales will have specialties.
The Barrow Street location will continue to
have senior health and consultation on the third
fl oor. On the fourth fl oor there will be an intergenerational
business program with access to culinary
arts including cooking classes, technology
and business related classes. The resource room
will be the main focus, like a mini-Staples, where
people can shred, copy, fax, and scan. “There’s
a demand for that,” Marceca says. “We’ll have
computers and a staff person to help.”
Read more on amny.com.
Don’t forget the shops around your corner this Small Business Saturday
BY MAC SORENSEN
As the holiday shopping season kicks
into high gear following Thanksgiving,
New Yorkers ought to remember
the great deals and service they can fi nd just
a short walk from their homes this “Small
Business Saturday.”
The national program, championed by
American Express, puts a focus on mom-andpop
retailers across America on a weekend
when millions of shoppers head out to buy
gifts for their loved ones.
“This Small Business Saturday, let’s celebrate
the contributions of small businesses to
our communities by supporting small in all the
ways that we can,” said U.S. Small Business
Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman. “On
Saturday and throughout the holiday season,
let’s patronize our small shops, restaurants,
theaters, entertainment centers, and more
to help support their recovery. It takes hard
work, grit, and determination to bounce back
from a once-in-a-generation pandemic, and
the SBA is proud to do its part to provide
entrepreneurs with vital resources. Now more
than ever, let’s buy local to support small business
owners who are creating opportunity and
driving job growth across the nation.”
Though New York is considered the
For every $100 you spend at a local small business, $70 of that money
is re-invested in your community, according to Small Business Services
Commissioner Jonnel Doris.
fi nancial capital of the United States and often
associated with big corporations housed in
skyscrapers across the landscape, the reality
is that small businesses largely drive the city’s
economy.
Of the more than 200,000 businesses in
New York City, according to the de Blasio
Administration, 98% of them have fewer
than 100 employees. Approximately 89% of
all businesses are classifi ed as “very small,”
meaning that they employ 20 or fewer workers.
PHOTO VIA GETTY IMAGES
Many of these businesses struggled to
survive throughout the COVID-19 pandemic,
and even as the vaccine made the rounds
and society began to reopen, the challenges
remain. An April report issued by state
Comptroller Tom DiNapoli found that 78%
of businesses statewide with less than 500
workers reported continued various problems
related to the health crisis, such as a steep
decline in business.
New York City continues to provide
tremendous fi nancial aid and technical support
to struggling small businesses across the
Five Boroughs, according to Small Business
Services Commissioner Jonnel Doris. In a
NY1 interview, he noted that the city has so
far provided more than $275 million in assistance
toward small businesses impacted by
the pandemic.
“At this stage, we continue to provide the
necessary resources for small businesses that
they need to come back,” Doris said. “As you
come out of the pandemic, a lot of our businesses
are struggling fi nancially. Others are
struggling with their rent.”
As the city and nation continue to recover
from the COVID-19 pandemic, small businesses
are in desperate need of continued
support from the communities they serve, and
the Small Business Saturday campaign — fi rst
launched in 2010 — has traditionally served as
a boon for mom-and-pop stores everywhere.
According to the SBA, Americans spent
an estimated $19.8 billion last year on Small
Business Saturday, benefi ting many of the
more than 32.5 million small businesses
across the country.
For New York City, Doris noted, shopping
at a small business provides a profound economic
impact not just for the business owners,
but also the communities that they serve.
4 November 25, 2021 Schneps Media
/amny.com
