FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM DECEMBER 2, 2021 • THE QUEENS COURIER 19
How the COVID-19 pandemic made seniors more food-insecure than ever before
BY TANIA COLLAZO
Th e holiday season is oft en a time for
generations of families to come together,
eat their favorite family meals and spend
some quality time together. But for many,
this time of year is a painful reminder of
the isolation they face and the food insecurity
they struggle with. In fact, one
in eight older New Yorkers are unsure
where their next meal will come from.
Th e pandemic shined a light on the
reality of senior isolation, many of whom
also face a lack of regular access to food.
We can and must do more as a society
to fi ght this pervasive issue, especially
around the holidays.
Food insecurity is a growing issue in
New York and the United States that particularly
affl icts low-income individuals
and seniors. Across the U.S., 7.3 million
older adults are struggling with reliable
access to nutritious food. Older adults of
color, as well as older adults with disabilities,
are three times as likely to be foodinsecure.
Th ere is a proven array of negative
physical and mental health outcomes
that seniors face due to food insecurity.
Food-insecure seniors were more
FIX THE EAST
RIVER TUNNELS
FIRST BEFORE
SPENDING MORE
ON PENN STATION
“How the MTA plans to invest
new federal funding” (Janno Lieber
— Nov. 25) forgot the 110-year-old
East River tunnels. Previous investments
at Penn Station — including the
$1.6 billion Moynihan Station Farley
Building, $300 million new West End
Concourse and $600 million new 33rd
Street entrance — have done little to
improve the reliability of Long Island
Rail Road service.
They all failed to add any new additional
Penn Station tracks or platforms.
This results in no capacity increase
for any new rush-hour Amtrak, NJ
Transit, LIRR or future new Metro-
North trains to serve Penn Station. His
support for Governor Hochul’s $8 billion
Penn Station improvements to
“transform the dilapidated dungeon
likely to have depression (262%), asthma
(78%), diabetes (74%) and congestive
heart failure (71%), further adding
to their health struggles.
Across New York, older adults are oft en
overlooked as one of our city’s most
vulnerable groups, causing needed programs
to be underfunded, meaning older
New Yorkers don’t get the resources they
need.
Since the onset of COVID, the economic
fallout and lack of federal fi nancial
response, funding shortages have been
seen across the board in diff erent sectors
among the nonprofi t community. Th is is
especially evident in food pantries, soup
kitchens and mobile pantries. Th ey have
had the biggest blow with 35% of their
doors closing aft er the pandemic hit.
New York must be a city that enables
older adults to age with dignity and
purpose. Th at means long-term investment
in programs that feed our seniors
and most vulnerable, like Citymeals
on Wheels, Food Bank for NYC, NYC
Foundation for Senior Citizens, Encore
Community Services, NY Common
Pantry and more.
Th e pandemic has only heightened the
urgency to act. Already facing food insecurity
we know today into a world-class transit
hub” does nothing for riders who
have to deal with canceled or combined
trains due to increasing frequency
of problems with the East River tunnels.
Amtrak continues to delay overdue
major repairs to the four East River
tunnels until after the LIRR begins service
into Grand Central Terminal in
December 2023.
Delaying the start of work by six
years from 2019 to 2025 will increase
costs by 300% to $1 billion. Continued
deterioration of the East River tunnels
over this time period could result in an
increased scope of work and accompanying
service disruptions. Combined
with responses to the procurement
process from contractors, this could
then result in a final price tag of several
hundred million more than the current
engineers estimate.
Only one of four East River tunnels
can be taken out of service at a
time for reconstruction. It will average
one year or more to finish work
on each tunnel. As a result, this project
may not be completed until 2030.
Until this work is over, it is impossible
to increase rush-hour Penn Station
capacity and guarantee reliable uninterrupted
service.
There will continue to be a three-way
competition between Amtrak, LIRR
and NJ Transit for rush-hour access to
Penn Station. Metro-North will also be
looking for rush-hour access, resulting
in a four-way competition.
LIRR riders prefer safe and reliable
service at a fair price without being
accosted by panhandlers and homeless
people. Stop spending billions more to
raise ceilings, increase circulation and
add more natural light at Penn Station
until you have brought all four East
River tunnels up to a state of good
repair. Commuters travel to and from
Penn Station. We don’t live there!
Larry Penner, Great Neck
oped
letters & comments
and isolation, the pandemic exacerbated
both. Older adults who were
already homebound received even fewer
visitors and less access to both their community
and the support of the outside
world. For many who were previously
able to support themselves, the pandemic
made it dangerous to leave their homes
to acquire food, leaving them dependent
on others.
To help address this issue among older
adults in NYC, JASA, the go-to agency
serving older adults in NYC, has established
programming that provides homedelivered
meals to its residents. Th rough
this program, JASA provided over 1 million
meals to New York seniors last year
alone.
Th e number and operation itself is
staggering and saves lives. But while
food delivery workers have always been
trained to monitor for signs of issues and
when to call 911, JASA’s delivery team
has taken on a more pronounced role of
checking in and being the wellness lifeline
for many older adults, for whom
the JASA staff are the only people they’ll
interact with in person.
For seniors who couldn’t and still can’t
leave their homes due to the pandemic,
the nutritious meals and the delivery
staff provide a bridge to the outside
world. Th e food provides them with the
nutrients to survive, while the staff provides
them an opportunity — sometimes
the only chance in their day — to converse
with someone. Th is isn’t just a chat
to break up the day, but it also supports
their mental health and gives the staff a
chance to ensure the older adults are safe
and healthy by observing any potential
signs of need.
As older adults continue to become
a larger percentage of our population,
ensuring our seniors have access to nutritious,
tasty food will remain a critical
challenge for New York City and the rest
of the country. Th is holiday season, we
must not forget those isolated in their
homes. Everyone can step up in helping
our most vulnerable neighbors. Whether
it is donating food directly or supporting
meals programs, or just checking in
on older New Yorkers, we can make sure
this holiday season, everyone is connected
and no one goes hungry.
Tania Collazo is director of the Queens
Home Delivered Meals Program and chef
supervisor at JASA.
TAI CHI IN MACDONALD PARK // PHOTO BY JOE ABATE
Send us your photos of Queens and you could see them online or in our paper!
To submit them to us, tag @qnsgram on Instagram, visit our Facebook page,
tweet @QNS or email editorial@qns.com (subject: Queens Snaps).
CORRECTION: The Queens Courier printed incorrect dates for
the Cord Meyer / The Bay Terrace Shopping Center’s Annual
Lighting of the Hannukah Menorah Celebration. The correct
date is Dec. 5, at 6 p.m., in the Upper Level parking lot next
to Mito’s. It incorrectly stated Dec. 13. We apologize for our
error and the resulting inconvenience. Cord Meyer and The
Bay Terrace Shopping Center provided the correct dates.
link
/WWW.QNS.COM
link
