Release #334-00

 

Contact:	Sunny Mindel / Lynn Rasic (212) 788-2958
	Helene Wolff (DFTA) (212) 442-1341

Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani joined Department for the Aging (DFTA) Commissioner Herbert W. Stupp today for a ribbon cutting ceremony celebrating recent renovations to Our Lady of Pompeii Senior Center, made possible through DFTA's Facilities Management Unit. Also joining the Mayor were The Caring Community President Eleanor Korman, Executive Director Eileen Dolphin and Senior Center members.

"I am pleased to be here today to join The Caring Community to celebrate the extensive improvements to Our Lady of Pompeii Senior Center," Mayor Giuliani said. "Thanks to the City's Facilities Management Unit, much-needed renovations have been completed, including a new elevator, handicapped- accessible bathrooms, widened stairways, a new kitchen, a new office, new lighting, and freshly-painted ceilings. Such improvements will allow The Caring Community to continue to enhance the lives of all its members."

"Today's ribbon-cutting continues this administration's work to address the needs of our City's older citizens. Public-private partnerships that provide food delivery and care-taker assistance, as well as older-worker employment programs, are just some of the services that benefit New York City seniors," said the Mayor.

"The Department of the Aging is here to enrich the lives of older New Yorkers," Commissioner Stupp said. "In 1995, we established the Facilities Management Unit to make sure that our 'customers' receive services in modernized and handicapped-accessible senior centers."

Under the Giuliani Administration, the Department for the Aging received its first capital budget, which allowed for the creation of the Facilities Management Unit. The Facilities Management Unit is charged with overseeing the renovation and relocation of the Department's 340 senior centers. 20 senior centers have been moved or are in the process of moving to more modern facilities. More than half of the centers have completed or are undergoing significant renovations to accommodate growing membership and enhance their facilities.

Renovations through the Facilities Management Unit include new kitchen equipment, air-conditioning, and other improvements - such as the installation of entrance ramps. As a result of these improvements, New York City seniors are enjoying a total of 270 air-conditioned centers throughout the five boroughs. The Department's capital budget for 2000-2004 is $45.3 million.

Founded in 1973, The Caring Community is a community-based not-for-profit organization. The Caring Community meets the needs of Greenwich Village's aging community through programs that provide family-style meals, senior crime victim assistance, classes in health and nutrition, the arts, and at home-services that include the delivery of meals and home maintenance help.