By: Rebecca Spitz
11/03/2011 06:54 PM
NY1.com
A building on Manhattan’s Lower East Side that has been helping the deaf and hard of hearing community for more than two decades is about to get an extensive renovation. Borough reporter Rebecca Spitz filed the following report.
Alex Badalian calls the Lower East Side home, not just because the Armenian immigrant has lived in the neighborhood since 1996, but because the entire population in his building is hard of hearing or deaf, just like him.
He is one of 138 low-income people who live in Tanya Towers, home to a deaf and hard of hearing community.
“I’m very happy I live here. Good building, good service,” says Badalian.
The building is run by a nonprofit Health and Human Services organization known as F.E.G.S. Almost four decades after Tanya Towers was built, F.E.G.S. has decided the building needs some sprucing up.
“We have a commitment to you and to the community to build an extraordinary facility and to make it a place where you want to live and to really make it a community for people who are deaf and hard of hearing and have disabilities,” says F.E.G.S. Chief Executive Officer Gail Magaliff.
With that in mind, F.E.G.S. has started a $4.4 million renovation of the building, inside and out. Some of the money for the work comes from a City Council grant sponsored by Rose Mendez, the local councilwoman, and some is from the office of Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer.
The city’s Housing Development Corporation arranged for almost $3 million in financing through a mortgage refinance.
“We’re going to have a new staff office, new computers, which is going to be great for the staff because the staff use videophones to communicate,” says Tanya Towers Director Glenn Stelzer. “After the renovation, it’s going to be more like a friendly environment, more like home.”
Badalian is looking forward to that.
“Today I see, in the meeting I see a picture of future Tanya Towers, how it changes. Before I was happy, I still am happy and I will be more happy,” says Badalian.
The renovations are extensive but they will not take very long. The building is expected to be fully made over by summer 2012.
Source: manhattan.ny1.com/content/top_stories/150170/les-residence-for-deaf-community-to-get-major-makeover
