A plan to build more affordable housing Downtown has caused a ripple effect that has left tots without a school and senior citizens without so much as a window.
To make room for 100 low-income apartments, the Boerum Hill YWCA has not only booted the 115-student Montessori Day School, but also forced a social service agency to subdivide its own senior center nearby to make room for four social workers who once worked at the Y at the corner of Atlantic and Third avenues.
The result has put the squeeze on the geezers.
“They took the only nice place in the whole center for offices,” said Daisy Panohaya, a regular at the Raices Times Plaza senior center, where the four social workers have relocated. “They even took the only window.”
Panohaya and other canasta sharks have been lobbying the city to find other space for the social workers. But the sprightly seniors are no match for a white-hot real-estate market.
“We just don’t have enough money to rent anywhere else,” said Juan Ortiz, director of the senior center, who also used to work at the nearby Y.
Meanwhile, the Montessori school is searching “under every rock” for new space in time for the first day of school in September, said school parent Paul Parkhill.
There are few leads — and any available space is more expensive than the school can afford.
“We’re just in a bad financial situation,” said Montessori board co-chair Kelvin Diamond. “We’ve been paying a nickel for our rent now in the open market, we’ll be paying a dollar.”
The YWCA plan includes 100 new studio apartments, as well as two floors reserved for organizations that cater to women and girls. The new program makes the Y eligible for city and state funding — income that will cement its place Downtown.
“It was a difficult decision by our board, but we believe that our priority must be to respond to the largely unmet needs of girls and women in Brooklyn,” said YWCA board member Sarah Williams.
