By Peggy Taylor
“We did it!” exulted Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine as he joined other elected officials, community leaders, public agencies, and private partners on Tuesday at the dedication of a spanking-new, state-of-the-art, affordable-housing complex for low-income and homeless seniors on West 108th Street between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues.
Called WSFSSH at 108th Street, the complex actually opened last November, but its dedication was delayed due to COVID and seniors’ vulnerability to it. It features 110 beds in its shelter section and, in its residential section, 79 units for low-income households, and 119 supportive studios for formerly homeless residents, most of whom are over 55 and living with serious mental illness and/or substance-use disorder, or require assistance with activities of daily living.
There is also a federally qualified health center, operated by the Institute for Family Health, offering primary care and specialized services at low or no cost to both residents and the entire Upper West Side community. And there are: a parking lot for the Central Park Medical Unit’s ambulances; community meeting spaces; and a public restroom for the adjacent Anibal Aviles playground.
Calling it an “affordable housing eco system that elevates everyone,” the Borough President hailed the complex as “one of the most important affordable housing projects in the city today,” noting: “We overcame political obstacles, financial obstacles and logistical obstacles to accomplish this, but in the end, we transformed this block.” He stressed that the project, which faced stiff opposition, came to fruition “thanks to the sheer number of groups who supported it.”
Paul R. Freitag, executive director of WSFSSH, the West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing, which spearheaded the project, struggled to contain joyful tears as he asked the audience to indulge him as he praised his staff and recited the names of all the organizations who made the complex a reality “during an incredibly difficult time.” He said it was “wonderful to celebrate something positive and hopeful after so many arduous years. We recognize that how we care for our elders is a mark of our civic well-being.”
“We never see a crowd this big for a project like this,” said Jessica Katz, Chief Housing Officer of New York City, as she addressed the 200-plus standing-room-only audience, who packed the glass-walled dining room of the shelter section. She called it one of the city’s most important affordable housing projects and “a community effort and asset.”
Adolfo Carrion, Jr, Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner, uttered “Wow,” repeatedly as he contemplated the facility which he also praised as “amazing, beautiful, and inspiring.” “This is a project which needs to be multiplied many times over the City,”he said. But acknowledging the recent Bruckner Throgs Neck and Edgemere Far Rockaway zoning battles, he cautioned that “nothing of value comes easy, it’s not pretty sausage-making,” and that, given the low housing vacancy rate, especially for low-income, fixed-income seniors, replicating such projects was “going to require fights.”
Other dignitaries who spoke included Sheldon Fine, President of the WSFSSH Board, Liza Fitzpatrick, Human Resources Administration Administrator, Joslyn Carter, Department of Homeless Services Administrator, and Jane Silverman, Executive Director, Community Development Banking, Chase.
Lynette Spencer, a resident who transferred from the shelter to the residential section and has been living there since last November, expressed gratitude for her “huge studio” and described how the facility had helped her recover from the double blow of losing her job when she lost her husband from COVID. “The people here are beautiful,” she said. “I feel safe, they keep the complex clean, everybody is helpful, they make sure you get your packages, and they provided me with a therapist when I was traumatized.”
A shelter resident, whom I interviewed but who didn’t want to be named, called the facility, the “Taj Mahal.”
After the dedication, we toured the residential section of the “Taj Mahal,” and were impressed with its well-appointed studios, community rooms, playroom, (children live in the complex), laundry room, offices, garden, and terrace overlooking the park next door, the soccer field across the street and the midtown skyline in the distance.
One of the delights of the tour was discovering that a former New York City tour guide and colleague of mine, French-born Beatrice Coron, was the artist who created the facility’s charming cut metal tree guards, window guards, fences, and gates and whose theme is “Roots and Seasons.” “It’s about the way both human beings and trees adapt to the change of seasons,” she said. Her work, which depicts birds, rabbits, squirrels, and butterflies, is a “big hit with the kids,” and features the “strength and flexibility of the oak tree, which is a metaphor for this construction for the West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing,” she said.
WSFSSH at West 108 features a multitude of on-site social services for its residents, including case management, service coordination, crisis intervention, counseling, transportation services, money management classes, nutrition services, meals for its Valley Lodge residence, and recreational activities, according to a press release.
Social services staff offer programming such as art classes in the building’s activity rooms and outdoor exercise and recreational activities in the building’s backyard and elevated terrace.
The development’s funding comes from a mix of sources including the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development, New York City Housing Development Corporation, NYS Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance’s Homeless Housing and Assistance Program, Chase, National Equity Fund, UMB Bank, Capital One, and Deutsche Bank.
Kudos to all that made this housing complex happen! This will help so many people in need.
Look at that – our government and social service organizations can deliver. Congratulations to all involved, and wishing everyone abundant success!
The only thing wrong with this project is the name. OMG! It’s unpronounceable.
“Where do you live?”
“At WSFSSH at 108”
“WTF?”
Otherwise, kudos all around. Does anyone miss the parking garage?
It’s really called Westside Federation for Seniors of Supportive Housing
On the” upper west “ all seniors know WISH FISH.,!
The name sounds like a television station with the letters in it!!!!!!!!! Lol
They pronounce it Wish Fish.
I’ve heard people call it “WishFish”.
I just recently walked by this building and was so taken by the beautiful fencing ‘art’. It not only depicts vegetation but as stated above, ‘birds, rabbits, squirrels and butterflies’. Beautiful! It’s great that an effort was made to make even a ‘functional’ item so pleasing. Thank you.
The artist will show some of her work on the “Cylindrical Gallery” kiosk on the SW corner of 83rd St. & Broadway after November 1st.
Looks great! Wonderful to see care and thought put into looking after this vulnerable population.
What a win for our community and I am beyond thrilled to hear that there are public bathrooms for those who use the sports fields across the street.
What true community complex!
How can apply
WSFSSH at W108 had a housing lottery 18 months ago and all of the units are currently assigned. They will advertise for vacancies when they arise through the city’s Housing Connect website. Housing Connect lists almost all of the affordable housing programs in the city. Housing Connect 2 /Public Portal (nyc.gov) To contact WSFSSH directly—-
http://www.wsfssh.org) or call (212-721-6032 ext. 1001).
I’m not sure why WSR rejected my previous comment, but maybe I was groggy when I wrote it so I’ll restate because there needs to be some critical takes on this. I don’t believe this project is the unalloyed success that is being portrayed.
It looks great, but I don’t think this kind of project is financially sustainable. The city sold a huge chunk of land (which previously had been earning the city money with the garages) to a non-profit for $1. Then they let gave the nonprofit zoning variances to let them build higher. And now the city will fund the non-profit to operate this space.
A much more efficient approach would have been to sell the land for the fortune it was worth. The buyer would have to start paying property taxes on the parcel. Once it got developed it would also be filled with people paying taxes. That money could provide more housing and supportive services in a less expensive part of the city.
If we want housing and supportive services, we should get more bang for the buck. The ROI isn’t here.
Wow. You live in quite a bubble. I hope you never need any help from anyone in your later years. More likely though is that At some point your life circumstances going to reveal to you that we are all interdependent.
Since when is 108th between Amsterdam and Columbus an expensive neighborhood?
Obviously you are not up to speed on the rapidly developing neighborhoods in the city. Up until 2018 I lived a block away from this development. Until a hedge fund company came in and bought the group of apt bldings on my block..their business plan is to buy properties with rent stabilized units in them then buyout those tenants. If that doesn’t work it’s non stop Harrassment with ongoing construction “accidents” from renovations. And when that fails that proceed with complete BS eviction cases that they would never actually win in the end but they keep going long enough to drain the tenants resources fighting until they have no choice but to agree to settle. . This has been going on throughout the 10025 for the past 6 years.
To give you a better understanding when NYC began it’s new program to provide attorney to those individuals facing eviction cases they began the first year rollout with just 2 zip codes being serviced in each borough starting in 2016. Each year they added more and so on. The deciding factor for which zip codes to add first was simple. The zip codes in each borough with the most pending eviction cases at the time. 10025 lead the city in 2016 with eviction cases because of rapidly moving gentrification and new interest in the neighborhood as a hot new spot
In 2018 they also granted 3 subway stations on the UWS 50 million dollar cosmetic makeovers that required closure for 6 months. The Catherdral Park/110 st stop was one of those 3. I lived there for 10 years and can tell you that that station was already in excellent condition. As my local stop if it needed rehabbed I would have been one of the first to bitch if it wasn’t one that got it. But it didn’t need it. I would say prior to the renovation it was already in the top 20 % of stations in term of how it looked and functioned. But developers and landlords no doubt influenced this ridiculous vanity project at a selling point for new affluent residents surging into the hood.
This neighborhood has become very desirable despite what your preconcieved notions may have informed you .
Well, what is here is an investment in people, our seniors!! And Whadda ya mean “ less expensive” parts of the city?. Our seniors should live in Queens or SI .? And deprive them of the ez access to entertainment, and senior centers they are all familiar with ? Yeah, go make ur own investments pal and worry about ur returns …and leave the not for profits and those in dire need of housing ALONE
This was not a ROI situation. And having less affluent folks living in an expensive part of the city is just what we should be fostering. Not segregating the poor into poor sections. . That’s how equality works. You are saying that the poorer and less fortunate don’t deserve to live in a nice (expensive) neighborhood. You sound like Mayor Bloomberg, whose most fervent wish was to transport those earning less than $200M a year to the outer boroughs so the more well to do could be the only folks in NYC.
I think the neighborhood matters less than the impact. It’s more of a win to feed and house 400 vulnerable people than 200 vulnerable people.
Putting aside Elisabeth’s correct point about how society itself benefits from avoiding economic segregation, there’s a great deal of value to allowing seniors to age more or less in place, in their own neighborhoods, close to their own social networks. I’m guessing that when you get old and frail you won’t be looking to be packed up and shipped off to the outer Bronx or East New York, right? You’ll be wanting to hang out with your cronies and any nearby family. I know I will.
I agree that’s desirable. Then again it’s highly expensive, which is part of why so many people retire to Florida or other cheaper places.
We’re talking about seniors who need government assistance to retire pretty much anywhere in our city. It’s a big population, and I think housing as many as possible in comfortable, supportive environments is more important.
More important than situating those environments on extremely expensive pieces of property whose sale could fund comfort and security for many more people in need.
It’s not just “desirable.” By keeping seniors in touch with their social networks and their current health care providers, housing within the community undoubtedly prolongs life and may even reduce costs (seniors who have a social network, especially family, need to use formal caregiving services less). The goal here is not to warehouse as many people as possible at the minimum acceptable level til they happen to die. Given all the nonsense the city pays money for, this is near the bottom of the list for objectionability. The reflexive suspicions about cost and cost-effectiveness when it comes to helping the poor speak well of no one.
I’ll take a wild swing at it and state that there is likely not a single City employee who knows what ROI is. Much less operate under the constraints of one.
Also, do note the absence of the typical comments about “another ugly monstrosity” for “foreign billionaires.” Apparently, the bank account of the residents determines the perception of architectural beauty around here (in addition to the other regular virtue signaling).
Wonderful! Congratulations and thanks to all the organizations and individuals who helped make this happen.
Wonderful! So glad this was possible! Need more of these housing complexes!
Inspired and inspiring. I just hope that the community will continue with all of its services remaining available and not dwindling away!
Happy to c how much is being done how can I apply
Something good to celebrate!
Wow! Thats awesome. I wish we had a place like there here in Richmond Virginia. Henrico County. A place for people with memory and speech problems. I’ve been diagnosed with auditory processing disorder. Iv not had speech or memory therapy. Since my seizures. My income is very low. Under 1,000 a month. Living with my daughter. My most problem is having to ask people to repeat whatever it is they say to me. Because it takes a little bit for me to understand what has been spoken to me. Things move so fast these days. No one has time to repeat themselves or give me time to understand some of the things that’s been said to me. I’m told I won’t be able to live on my own. I feel and think I will. Especially if my income was better. And if I has the therapy with speech and memory. Great job New York!
Is there an open waiting list? CAN I RENT NOW