{"id":14897,"date":"2025-10-24T13:21:33","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T13:21:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/14897\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T13:21:33","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T13:21:33","slug":"sunset-park-community-celebrates-reopening-of-united-senior-center-after-1-1m-funding-deal-brooklyn-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/14897\/","title":{"rendered":"Sunset Park community celebrates reopening of United Senior Center after $1.1M funding deal \u2022 Brooklyn Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

The atmosphere at the United Senior Center in Sunset Park (USC) on Oct. 22 was livelier than usual as seniors, local politicians, and community organizers celebrated what had seemed unthinkable just a few months ago: the renewal of a 10-year lease<\/a> for a place that has been the heart of Sunset Park\u2019s senior community for 51 years.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, it appeared the 10,000-square-foot space was on the brink of closure<\/a> after the landlord requested a cumulative rent increase of more than 86% \u2014 $121,800 \u2014 over a 10-year lease. Despite efforts to negotiate in good faith, the building\u2019s owner, Amy Grabino, did not make any concessions on the rent hike.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Assemblymember Marcela Mitaynes, whose district includes Sunset Park, along with New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and Council Member Alexa Avil\u00e9s, stepped in. The lawmakers secured $1.1 million in discretionary funding \u2014 $500,000 from the City Council and $600,000 from the State Assembly \u2014 ensuring the reopening of the center after a brief closure.<\/p>\n

Heastie, who attended the celebration, told the crowd he learned about the potential closure through a newspaper article and reached out to Mitaynes to see how he could help.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI said, \u2018This is not right. What is happening? What can we do to help?\u2019\u201d Heastie recalled.\n<\/p>\n

\"\"Community members celebrated USC\u2019s new 10-year lease. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann \"\"State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie noted seniors deserved to celebrate their \u201cgolden\u201d years in \u201ccomfort and dignity.\u201d Photo by Gabriele Holtermann<\/p>\n

The Assembly speaker said seniors who had served the city deserved to celebrate their \u201cgolden\u201d years in \u201ccomfort and dignity.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes, when we give out money, people want to thank me. Thank me when I write a personal check \u2014 this was your money,\u201d Heastie said. \u201cThis is the state\u2019s money. And what better way to spend the state\u2019s money than on all of you, to make sure that you have a place where you can gather and call home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like many of New York City\u2019s working-class neighborhoods, the vibrant, multicultural Sunset Park community has long faced gentrification pressures.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a community that\u2019s been fighting gentrification for years, this was the last tidal wave that we weren\u2019t sure we were able to overcome,\u201d Mitaynes told Brooklyn Paper. \u201cBut we were able to get folks to pull resources together, and I\u2019m very happy for the seniors and their ability to be able to stay, to have their space.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Assembly Member Marcela Mitaynes said Sunset Park had been fighting gentrification for years Photo by Gabriele Holtermann<\/p>\n

Avil\u00e9s, who represents Sunset Park, described senior centers as a \u201cpublic good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe situation for senior centers and nursery schools across the city are facing these kinds of hikes, and it\u2019s not sustainable,\u201d Avil\u00e9s said. \u201cThis is a public good, and our government should ensure that these places remain in place, remain funded, and intact. So there\u2019s a lot of work still to be done.\u201d<\/p>\n

USC is the largest older adult center in Sunset Park and serves more than 4,000 seniors each month, offering culturally competent, multilingual services, including meals, recreation and fitness, cultural activities, referral services, health care and transportation.<\/p>\n

As isolation and loneliness among older adults rise, and suicide rates climb, centers like USC are literally lifelines for many, Avil\u00e9s said.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cMany during the fight provided testimony about what [USC] meant to them. It was everything from, \u2018I will die at home alone if I don\u2019t have this place to come to. I have no one else [because] family moved away, no other place to go, and this brings meaning to my life,\u2019\u201d Avil\u00e9s said. \u201cWhen you hear that on multiple occasions, it sets an urgency right in your belly that you can\u2019t fail, because that\u2019s people\u2019s lives on the line.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Council Member Alexa Avil\u00e9s said the center was a lifeline for many older adults. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann<\/p>\n

Council Member and Finance Committee Chair Justin Brannan \u2014 the \u201cmoney man,\u201d as Avil\u00e9s called him \u2014 said it\u2019s rare for communities to celebrate a victory like this one.<\/p>\n

Brannan said preserving senior centers, particularly after COVID-19, was essential, though he admitted to Brooklyn Paper that securing the funds to keep USC open wasn\u2019t easy.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are the seniors that literally helped build our city, and it\u2019s important that we look out for them,\u201d Brannan said. \u201c[Securing the funds] was hard, but it was important. What the hell is more important than this? If we don\u2019t do the right thing by our seniors, what are we doing?\u201d<\/p>\n

Grisel Amador, USC\u2019s executive director, described the center\u2019s community as a \u201cbig family,\u201d regardless of cultural background.\n<\/p>\n

\"\"State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Council Member Justin Brennan joined the celebration. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann \"\"Grisel Amador (right) described the USC community as a \u201cbig family.\u201d Photo by Gabriele Holtermann<\/p>\n

Amador told Brooklyn Paper that during the center\u2019s closure in July and August, community members would sit outside the building, asking when it would reopen. To keep their spirits up, she came up with a simple code: a yellow tablecloth in the window would signal the reopening.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was on Sept. 8. That was my sign,\u201d Amador said.\n<\/p>\n

Sunset Park resident Hector Gonzalez credited the center\u2019s survival to the unity of the community and its leaders.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is important always to stay together, to work together and never, never, never be afraid of moving forward, because this is what makes the difference in the world,\u201d Gonzalez said.\n<\/p>\n

He added that he hoped other communities facing displacement would be inspired by USC\u2019s success.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope that other communities see this, that this was possible and not to be afraid when they need support,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are here to support other communities as well.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The atmosphere at the United Senior Center in Sunset Park (USC) on Oct. 22 was livelier than usual…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14898,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[446,584,98,100,99,10980,301,2969,10981,10982,9,24,10983,63,10984,7125,10985],"class_list":["post-14897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-adrienne-adams","tag-alexa-aviles","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-carl-e-heastie","tag-city-council","tag-funding","tag-justin-brannan","tag-marcela-mitayanes","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-state-assemblymember","tag-nyc","tag-senior-center","tag-sunset-park","tag-united-senior-center-of-sunset-park"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14897\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}