Astoria Houses Senior Center Saved From Proposed Closure

ASTORIA, QUEENS — The Astoria Houses Senior Center, which the mayor's office planned to close amid budget cuts, will remain open.

The City Council's recently-passed budget has transferred control of the NYCHA senior center to the Department for the Aging in an effort to ensure its survival, City Council Member Costa Constantinides announced.

"Today, we can celebrate both the opening of the renovated senior center, which will be able to hold more people, as well as its continued service to this community," Constantinides said. "These cuts should not have been proposed in the first place."

The senior center, located at 4-05 Astoria Blvd., is receiving a $500,000 upgrade and will fully reopen in the coming weeks. Work started in 2014 and has since been plagued by construction delays, according to Constantinides, who fought for the funding.

Mayor Bill de Blasio's budget had proposed closing several senior clubs in public housing, which city officials said had low attendance and didn't offer many services. The city would have instead transported seniors to nearby, established centers.

Queens officials didn't dispute the claim that the Astoria Houses senior center has low attendance, but they took issue with the mayor's office using that as a rationale to close the center.