Report Finds Hazardous Conditions at Senior Centers

New York Times

An audit by the city comptroller’s office found dangerous conditions at a sample of 20 of New York City’s 329 senior centers, the comptroller, William C. Thompson Jr., announced on Thursday.

“Simply stated, D.F.T.A.’s lack of follow-up is putting seniors at risk for injury,” Mr. Thompson said, referring to the city’s Department for the Aging, which awards contracts to provide groups to run the centers. “It is mind-boggling that many of the hazardous conditions uncovered by my office were previously cited by D.F.T.A. in its own annual assessments. We were provided with little evidence of any efforts on its part to work with center management and landlords to correct these problems.”

In a detailed response contained within the 48-page audit report [pdf] Edwin Méndez-Santiago, the commissioner of the department, defended its oversight, while pointing out that it was the contractors’ responsibility to maintain proper physical conditions, which he said were subject to regular monitoring. Mr. Méndez-Santiago wrote in a letter dated June 13 to John Graham, a deputy comptroller:

The Department can and does conduct its required oversight and monitoring; it is our contracted service providers’ responsibility to maintain safety and cleanliness in the first instance and to respond to the Department’s monitoring findings. We will always work to support and follow through on their efforts, and ensure they meet their contractual obligations. In this vein, we are concerned about the lack of recognition in your audit report of the providers’ responsibility in maintaining physical conditions of senior centers.

The department also said in a statement on Wednesday, “The Department for the Aging requires safe and well-maintained senior centers. DFTA will continue to work closely with community providers who are responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the centers to ensure that facility related issues are corrected in a timely basis.”

At 12 of the 20 centers, the audit found fire and safety problems, including locked or blocked exit doors, a lack of illuminated exit signs, and inadequate lighting or broken handrails in exit passageways.

In 14 of the 20 centers, auditors found hazardous conditions in bathrooms, including damaged or missing tiles; peeling paint; rust and mildew on the sides of stalls, floors, and ceilings; dirty toilets and floors; and toilets, urinals, and sinks that did not function properly.

Nine of the 20 centers were found to have problems with their kitchens, including filthy stoves, dirty refrigerators and freezers, and a lack of internal thermostats and temperature controls in refrigerators and freezers.

The directors at 7 of the 20 centers complained that landlords and building managers would not pay for exterminators.

Mr. Thompson’s office had previously issued an audit on the centers in June 2005, which also found that many were not properly maintained.

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