Senior Spotlight
By John Toscano

Mayor Restores $5.7 M To 2004 Budget For Senior Programs

Springing a surprise on a city which previously has heard of nothing but doomsday budgets and sharp service cutback, Mayor Michael Bloomberg last week announced $90 million worth of restorations to next year’s budget, including $5.7 million for senior services and programs.

Programs and services are still reduced by $5.4 million, but the City Council is attempting to restore this amount to the budget in ongoing negotiations with the mayor’s budget team.

The $5.7 million that the mayor restored will be directed at maintaining services, such as paying rent and painting and repairs to keep facilities liveable at senior centers.

Another portion of this money will pay for information and referral services in certain communities with large numbers of new arrivals and other persons who do not have a sufficient command of the English language and would be unable to take advantage of many programs if they were not assisted by workers at the centers or by staffers at the city Department for the Aging.

As for Bloomberg’s surprise announcement, the mayor did not say specifically where the $90.2 million was coming from, but he firmly declared he would find it. It’s our guess the money is already within reach, otherwise the mayor wouldn’t place himself in an embarrassing position by having to renege on providing the cash in the future.

We guess also that the mayor is expecting some of the funding that President George W. Bush and Congress are making available to the city, about $2.7 billion in aid.

Commenting on the surprise aspect, Councilmember David Weprin (D–Hollis), who as Finance Committee chairman is in the middle of budget negotiations with the administration, said.

"My guess is that the mayor saw his poll numbers and figured that since these cuts were gong to be restored anyway, he might as well restore them now and save himself from getting beaten up for two more weeks in the press."

WANTS SENIORS’ DISCOUNT ON DRIVER’S LICENSES: Councilmember Tony Avella (D–Bayside) proposed last week that senior citizens be given a discount on the cost of renewing a driver’s license.

"While this may not save each individual senior citizen large sums of money, it will be a gesture of support and respect to provide this discount and thereby lessen the financial burden, even if only a little," he said.

Avella pointed out that during the past two years the large majority of seniors have incurred an ever increasing financial burden as a result of increasing property taxes and overwhelming health care and medication costs, in addition to escalating costs for heating and transportation.

Their problems are compounded, Avella said, because most seniors are on fixed incomes and in no position to absorb these increases.

WHEELCHAIR-ACCESSIBLE TAXIS SOUGHT: The Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association (EPVA), based in Jackson Heights, is urging New Yorkers to mail post cards or letters to Mayor Bloomberg urging a substantial increase in the number of wheelchair-accessible taxis and livery cabs in New York within three years.

The plea for help underscores the EPVA position that people with disabilities are entitled to equal access to transportation. It is one of several groups participating in the Taxis for All Campaign, organized by a coalition of individuals and groups representing people with disabilities. Since 1996, the group has been seeking more accessibility to taxis and livery cabs. To that end they call for the Taxi and Limousine Commission to reserve all 900 new taxi medallions sold in the next three years for wheelchair-accessible Yellow cabs only.

Address post cards or letters to the Honorable Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor of the City of New York, City Hall, New York, N.Y. 10007. Send another to City Council Speaker Gifford Miller, also at the City Hall address.