SENIOR CENTERS

Located throughout the city, senior centers provide meals, recreation, counseling, and social interaction to older New Yorkers. For the location nearest you, call 311 or use DFTA’s website to search for senior centers by borough or zip code.

Phone: 311

Web: www.nyc.gov/hmtl/dfta

BIRTH, DEATH, MARRIAGE, and DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIP CERTIFICATES

These documents are necessary for some benefit applications and can be obtained from the Department of Health’s Bureau of Vital Records.

Phone: (212) 788-4520 (Birth and Death Certificates)

Marriage Licenses and Domestic Partnership Certificates:

(212) 669-2400

Web: www.nyc.gov/html/records/html/vitalrecords/home.shtml

SOCIAL SERVICES

Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty (Met Council)

This citywide network of local Jewish Community Councils provides an array of social services, including assistance with benefits, housing assistance, legal help, assistance to Holocaust survivors, emergency and crisis intervention, and more.  For the location and phone number of a Jewish Community Council near you, call, the general number, or consult the Met Council website. If you are in a crisis situation and need immediate help, call the Met Council crisis intervention line.

Phone: (212) 453-9504 (General)

(212) 453-9539 (Crisis Intervention)

Web: www.metcouncil.org

New York Foundation for Senior Citizens

This organization can provide help with issues in a broad range of areas,

including housing alternatives, support services, transportation, senior centers, cultural programs, health care and long-term care.

Phone: (212) 962-7559 (General)

(212) 962-7817 (Case Management)

(212) 962-2720 (Ombudsman Office)

Web: www.nyfsc.org/

Medicare Rights Center Hotline

Volunteers for this national not-for-profit advocacy group counsel callers on

Medicare issues weekdays 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Phone: (800) 333-4114

Web: www.medicarerights.org

AARP (American Association of Retired Persons)

AARP is a membership organization that provides services and information for people 50 and over, including health insurance, prescription drug discounts, medical advice, and financial planning. And you don’t have to be retired to be a member.

AARP also has a magazine, newspaper and pamphlets, social events, resources for jobseekers, and a speakers’ bureau.

Phone: (866) 227-7442

Web: www.aarp.org/states/ny

Social Security Administration

Social Security provides monthly payments to retired seniors.

(Dependents and survivors may also be eligible for benefits.) The Social

Security Administration can be reached 24 hours a day, with live operators available weekdays, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Many publications describing benefits for retirees can be ordered over the phone.

Phone: (800) 772-1213

Web: www.socialsecurity.gov

Visiting Nurse Service of New York (VNS), Senior Health Care

VNS helps with health care benefits, housing, and in-home and community-based services; offers counseling in money management; and provides resource-planning for long- and short-term needs.

Phone: (800) 675-0391

Web: www.vnsny.org/mainsite/services/s_senior.html

HOUSING

Department for the Aging (DFTA)

DFTA publishes booklets for each borough listing housing options for senior

citizens, including assisted living, enriched housing, adult homes, public housing, shared housing, Sections 202 and 8 housing, and family-type homes for adults.

Phone: 311 (to request booklets)

Web: www.nyc.gov/html/dfta/html/senior/housing.shtml

New York City Affordable Housing Resource Center

.The website provides information on a broad array of housing issues, including renting apartments and buying houses. The site also provides all of the city’s affordable housing lottery listings.

Phone: 311

Web: www.nyc.gov/html/housinginfo/html/seniors_disabled/

seniors_disabled.shtml

Real Property Tax Credit (IT-214)

IT-214 provides rent relief to low-income seniors who have been residents of New York State for the full previous year and have lived in the same home for at least six months. Contact the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance for more information.

Phone: (800) 225-5829 (Personal Income Tax Information Center)

(800) 462-8100 (To order forms and publications)

Web: www.tax.state.ny.us/pdf/2007/fillin/inc/it214_2007_fill_in.pdf

Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE)

SCRIE exempts senior citizens from rent increases and allows landlords to

deduct the exempted increase from property taxes. You qualify if:

You live in a rent controlled or rent stabilized apartment or a rent regulated

hotel unit;

You are 62 or older; Your income is $27,000 or less; AND Your rent is increasing to more than 1/3 of your household income.

You can get help filling out and following up on your application from most

senior centers and elected officials’ offices.

Phone: 311 (request application)

Web: www.nyc.gov/html/dfta/html/scrie/scrie.shtml (information)

www.nyc.gov/html/dfta/downloads/pdf/scrie.pdf (application)

If you live in a Mitchell-Lama building, call the Department of Housing

Preservation and Development.

Phone: (212) 863-8494 (8:30 am - 4:30 pm)

Metropolitan Council on Housing

The Metropolitan Council on Housing provides assistance to tenants and information on tenants’ rights. The hotline is available Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 1:30 to 5 p.m.

Phone: (212) 979-0611 (Hotline)

(212) 979-6238 (General)

Web: www.metcouncil.net

Home Sharing Program, New York Foundation for Senior Citizens

(NYFSC)

NYFSC provides free and confidential services to match renters who have extra rooms with home-seekers in all five boroughs. Shared housing programs allow seniors to pool and maximize resources, sustain social interaction and provide mutual support. Either the host or the guest has to be age 60 or older (or age 55 or older if the guest is disabled).

Phone: (212) 962-7559

Web: www.nyfsc.org/

Help for Homeowners

These offices provide technical and financial management assistance to older homeowners. Some provide grants or low-cost home improvement loans.

Phone: (212) 519-2500 Citywide

(718) 992-5979 South Bronx

(718) 881-1180 North Bronx

(718) 919-2100 Bedford-Stuyvesant

(718) 469-4679 East Flatbush

(718) 230-7610 Home Ownership Center

Web: www.nhsnyc.org

Senior Citizens Homeowner Exemption (SCHE)

SCHE provides an income-scaled tax reduction by reducing assessed property value by 5 percent to 50 percent for property owners who own and live in one-, two-, or three-family homes, co-ops, or condominiums. You must be at least 65, with an income of $35,400 or less to qualify. Call the Property Tax Customer Assistance line or download an application from the Department of Finance website.

Translations are available in Chinese, Creole, Korean, Russian, and Spanish.

Phone: (212) 504-4080 (Property Tax Customer Assistance)

Web: www.nyc.gov/html/dof/html/property/property_tax_reduc_individual.shtml

School Tax Relief (STAR)

STAR provides a reduction in the school portion of property taxes for people who own and live in one-, two-, or three-family homes, co-ops, or condos,  with an increased exemption (Enhanced STAR) for seniors(65 or over as of Dec. 31 of the exemption year) whose incomes meet STAR guidelines.

Phone (212) 504-4080 (Property Tax Customer Assistance)

Web: www.nyc.gov/html/dof/html/property/property_tax_reduc_individual.shtml

Residential Emergency Services to Offer Home Repair to the Elderly (RESTORE)

The RESTORE Program is available to low-income seniors who need financial assistance for emergency home repairs. The maximum grant is $5,000 and is available to those who have lived in their homes for at least three years. The program is administered through RESTORE-qualified community-based organizations. For an organization in your service area, call the downstate RESTORE office:

Phone: (212) 480-7147

The South Brooklyn Legal Services’ Foreclosure Prevention Hotline

Offers advice, referrals, and, under certain circumstances, legal assistance to low- and moderate- income homeowners at risk of foreclosure due to predatory lending.

Phone: (718) 246-3279

Web: www.sbls.org

UTILITIES

HEAP helps pay fuel and utilities bills for people aged 60 and older who meet low-income guidelines. Eligible households that pay directly for heat receive a once-a-year benefit amount ranging from $120 to $540. Eligible households that do not pay directly for heat receive a standard benefit of $40 or $50, depending on income.

Emergency benefits are also available if an eligible household has less than a

day supply of fuel, or has utility service terminated or scheduled to be terminated.

Phone: (800) 692-0557 (New York City Social Services)

(800) 342-3009 (NYS HEAP Hotline)

Web: www.otda.state.ny.us/otda/heap/default.htm

The Weatherization Referral and Packaging Program (WRAP)

WRAP is a federal program that helps seniors pay for their home energy. To qualify for WRAP, you must be eligible for HEAP (see above) and live in a 1- to 4-unit dwelling. If you are 60 or older, or on Social Security

Disability, call the 311 and ask for WRAP.

Phone: 311

Life Line Telephone Service

Life Line is a program for low-income senior citizens that installs and maintains telephone service at low cost. To qualify for Life Line, you must be receiving aid from another government program. Contact your local telephone company to apply.

Web: www.lifeline.gov

 

Bay Currents will offer an even more comprehensive list of services in our Senior Care Guide and Supplement coming in February.