No AC at NYC senior center ahead of potential heat wave

MIDTOWN, Manhattan (PIX11) – An older adult center initially listed as a cooling center for the expected heat wave won’t be able to operate because of a faulty HVAC system – just one of a few of infrastructure problems plaguing the space. 

Encore Community Services' older adult center on 49th Street, which has been in operation for nearly 50 years, has a broken elevator and HVAC system that often fails completely in high heat, according to Executive Director Jeremy Kaplan. 

And ahead of New York’s expected heat wave, the center had to opt out of being an official cooling center, taking an essential space off the city’s roster for the third time in a row. 

“We don’t feel we can safely do that,” said Jennifer Asquino, director of Encore’s Aging through Arts Center on 49th Street.

The heat can get extreme inside the center, Asquino said. On bingo day last week, the temperature inside the center was over 80 degrees, despite the temperature outside being in the mid-70s, according to Asquino.

The elevator is also failing, at best taking one person at a time and getting stuck multiple times a day. It’s a major safety concern that also poses problems for Encore's in-home food service operation, which serves older adults across the city with hundreds of thousands of meals a year, Kaplan said.

It’s an issue that goes much further than this one center on 49th Street, and it’s time for city intervention, Kaplan said. 

“I know this administration has already done a lot to support the nonprofit sector, and we see that,” Kaplan said. “The city of New York needs to find a way to better invest in its nonprofit infrastructure, because this is not just an issue exclusive to Encore.”

The 49th Street space receives the bulk of its city funding from the New York City Department for the Aging, with other agencies supporting Encore’s full operations, which include serving meals, offering financial management support and social services at three locations. 

Now, the center is working with state Sen. Liz Krueger to secure funding from the New York State Senate, but money couldn’t come fast enough considering the city is expected to see temperatures over 90 degrees for multiple days in a row. 

Encore will be closed Wednesday for Juneteenth but open for its normal operations Thursday.

“Please support older adult centers more,” Asquino said to city leaders. “Our infrastructures need your help.”

PIX11 News reached out to the New York City Department for the Aging for comment.