In Red Hook we take care of our own, by Carlos Menchaca

Dear Neighbor,

It has been almost 30 months since the senior center on Wolcott Street was destroyed by the waters of Super-Storm Sandy. However, the good news is the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is aggressively moving forward with plans to renovate the building next to the Joseph Miccio Community Center to serve as a fully functional senior center that will provide expanded space and additional programming for Red Hook’s seniors.

Immediately following the Storm, elected officials like Congresswoman Velazquez echoed our calls for a new senior center—a move that eventually led to securing the site next to the Miccio Center. Since 2013, local leaders from the Red Hook Houses and from across the community have continued to engage my office and the NYCHA to develop a common-sense plan for the site. Additionally, the City Council allocated close to 2 million dollars to the project.

The community planning process incorporated many voices and many experiences. The design of the senior center was created using a public process, and in the last few months, NYCHA’s Disaster Recovery Unit has hosted additional design meetings and needs-assessment sessions to continue to best gauge any outstanding concerns. From these sessions, a solid and representative consensus plan emerged. I am proud to share that NYCHA is expected to open the Red Hook senior center in December of this year!

The new senior center in Red Hook speaks to our larger and ultimate goal: demanding attention from our city agencies to address the array of needs that face our community that include resilient and affordable housing, extracurricular programming for youth, Universal Pre-K seats, investing in our local libraries, and of course, post-Sandy infrastructure improvements to all public spaces in Red Hook.

We deserve more from our City agencies. The building of a senior center sends the a strong message that in Red Hook—in New York City—we take care of our own.
I invite you to join Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez and other local elected officials, NYCHA staff, and myself for an update on the progress of the senior center’s reconstruction. Together, we will address any outstanding questions, and re-affirm our shared commitment to this important project. My office will follow-up in the coming days with more information on this important meeting. I look forward to seeing you all there!

Visit http://redhookhub.org/ for Red Hook updates.
In solidarity,
Carlos Menchaca
NYC Council Member | District 38

gbrook@pipeline.com