The Jewish Community Center of Greater Coney Island unveiled a new older adult center in Gravesend on Thursday, hoping to help ensure the comfort and longevity of Brooklyn’s senior community.
Located within the Edmond & Lily Safra Senior Living on Kings Highway and East 3rd Street, the brand-new Kings Highway Older Adult Center is set to act as a hub of activity and services for southern Brooklyn’s seniors.
The Edmond & Lily Safra Senior Living and the Kings Highway Older Adult Center are operated by Ahi Ezer Kings Highway Housing Development Corporation, which provides homes to hundreds of older adults in Brooklyn.
“This ribbon cutting was the culmination of years of work to prepare our Center to serve community older adults,” said Rabbi Moshe Wiener, Executive Director of JCCGCI, in a statement. “JCCGCI is privileged to be in a position to deliver critical services to our clients, and to ensure that we are caring for our community’s most vulnerable.”
According to city data, more than 25% of the population in Community District 13 — which includes Coney Island, Gravesend, and Brighton Beach — is over the age of 65. JCCGI runs eight older adult centers, including the new Kings Highway facility, and offers transportation services, home care, and meal delivery for the neighborhood’s older adults.
The ribbon-cutting was attended by local assembly members Simcha Eichenstein and Michael Novakhov, Ryan Murray and Anya Metlitsky Herasme of the city’s Department for the Aging, and Karen Cherry, Senior Liasion for Older Adults to Mayor Eric Adams.
The Kings Highway Older Adult Center will offer a number of engaging classes in art, jewelry making, strength training, and aerobics as well as providing wholesome Glatt kosher lunches daily. The center will also run musical sing-a-longs, discussions, and a “delightful” Coffee & Games Club.
Wiener said the center was the brainchild of Eliot Harary, executive director of the Ahi Ezer Housing Development Corporation, who suggested building a new facility for homebound seniors.
Harary “expended great expense and effort to upgrade the site to make it compliant with various regulatory requirements,” Wiener said.
Grace Brandi, the supervising director of Older Adult Centers at JCCGI, and Risa Erps, director of the Kings Highway Older Adult Center, “both worked tirelessly over the past year to overcome multiple hurdles and make this OAC a reality,” Wiener added.
