City restores funding for Queens seniors

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards announced that discretionary funding for senior services in the borough has been restored this week.  Photo via the Borough President’s office 

By Jacob Kaye

A year after funding to support senior citizens in Queens was cut, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards announced this week that $325,000 for senior services has returned.

The borough president’s discretionary Department for the Aging funding has been restored, Richards said, and will allow the borough president to send over three grand to senior centers, homecare services and meal services in Queens.

“Our elders disproportionately bore the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic. From food and housing insecurity to isolation and the virus itself, which has proven to be deadliest for older individuals, the obstacles our seniors have faced these past two years are numerous,” Richards said. “I’m proud to have fought tirelessly, and successfully, to get this critical funding stream restored this year and I look forward to working with our senior service providers to help improve the lives of the more than 300,000 elders who proudly call Queens home — each one of them deserving of the ability to age with grace and dignity.”

The borough president said he’s already reached out to senior service providers throughout the borough, some of which will receive a portion of the funding.

The funding was cut in 2020 from the city’s 2021 expense budget as the city grappled with the early days of the pandemic. In total, the budget item distributed $1.1 million in discretionary funding to each of the city’s five borough presidents.