Film shows spirit and value of senior center
BY TEQUILA MINSKY
The fi lm “A Place To Go” offers
a glimpse into the diversity of
interests of Village seniors and
is a powerful testament to the value of
senior centers in New York City.
Peter Odabashian’s documentary
takes you behind the doors of Center
on the Square, the Greenwich House
senior center on the north side of
Washington Square Park. The lower
two fl oors of the building are a Sisters
of Charity convent.
The center, at 20 Washington Square
North, is a sort of “Cheers” for elders
(without the alcohol), where everyone
knows your name, or at least the three
staff members try to.
Center on the Square members recently
got a sneak preview of the fi lm,
programmed with the upcoming DOCNY
Film Festival, American’s largest
documentary fi lm festival. The screening,
at the SVA Theater on W. 23rd St.,
was sold-out. Councilmember Margaret
Chin, who chairs the City Council’s
Committee on Aging, was there, and
the fi lm’s cast and director did a Q&A
with the audience afterward.
Odabshian’s career as a fi lm and
sound editor and producer/director
laid the groundwork before he completed
his fi rst solo documentary, “Old
Friends,” in 2015.
Two years ago, he joined his friend
Albert Elia for lunch at the Center on
the Square. For 13 years, following
Elia’s retirement from Parsons as an instructor
in fashion illustration, he has
found camaraderie at this center.
Odabashian, 69, agreed with his
friend that the center was fi lled with
Sitting on the steps of Center on the Square, from left, custodian Roberto Roman, film director Peter
Odabashian and Loretta Wilson, in charge of food service. Roman and Wilson are featured prominently in
Odabashian’s film about the Village senior center.
interesting characters. And so began
his fi lmmaking journey at the senior
center.
From October 2016 to March 2017,
he, along with his camera, was an intermittent
presence there.
The center’s committed director,
Laura Marceca, introduces you to this
place where everyone is welcome —
“from those living on Fifth Ave. to those
who are homeless,” as she puts it.
“We treat everyone the same,” she
said, while acknowledging how they
try to give more attention to those who
seem to need it.
Lunch is the hub of the center. In the
fi lm, with an assertive voice, the late
Gina Zuckerman volunteers to “call
the numbers” for lunch, so that people
are served in an orderly fashion. This
nonagenarian was a Holocaust survivor
who retired from advertising work.
She fought off a mugger in the Village
in 2016.
It’s not a place for your typical holiday
parties, Director Marceca explains,
noting this population seeks more indepth
forms of engagement.
Odabashian brings you into the
rhythms of meals, classes and performances.
Interspersed with the musings from
more than 12 of the center’s many regulars,
Odabashian brings his camera to
the classes, such as Italian and creative
writing.
He shares the singing lessons and
chorus, as well as tai chi and Chinese
PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY
painting. Members are not shy when it
comes to their salsa classes or dancing
to the rock and roll from Washington
Square Park musicians.
Included in the fi lm are profi les of
the two staff. For custodian Roberto
Roman, a Vietnam War vet and a senior
who got the job after volunteering for a
year, the center is like family to him.
Loretta Wilson greets everyone while
she serves the meals and reveals that
she’s carrying on her mother’s legacy of
loving to serve food.
A testament to the Center’s value is
the philosophical Rick Hill speaking
about how people want to age in place.
“What stands out for me is the kindness
people show each other,” Odabashian
says, “and how everybody, with
their eccentricities, is treated as an individual.”
Center director Marceca says of the
sentiments so well illustrated in the
fi lm, “I’m proud of the community that
we created.”
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