On Friday, April 5, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor toured the new senior affordable housing complex opening in the Bronx named in honor of her mother Celina Báez.
The development, called Casa Celina, features 204 affordable-housing units reserved for older adults, and is located in the community where Celina Báez raised the future Supreme Court Justice, now named the NYCHA Sonia Sotomayor complex in Soundview.
JASA, who helped develop the complex along with ELH Mgmt. LLC, The Kretchmer Companies, Xenolith Partners LLC and NYCHA, is the largest nonprofit manager of senior housing in New York City. JASA will be the property manager and will provide supportive services and senior health and wellness programming on-site.
Justice Sotomayor attended a private tour of the complex with over 80 friends and family members. There were short remarks from the development team and a Q&A session with the Justice where she discussed her experience growing up in public housing and the significance of this new development being named after her mother, followed by tours of the property.
“This is the community I grew up in, and the flood of memories is just incredible,” Sotomayor said. “I was three years old when I moved around here, and it was this neighborhood where my mom made her lifelong friends. The fact that there are so many of our family and friends here today is not just a testament to the many lives my mom touched, but also the importance of a strong community that can develop in a stable environment – and that’s what this new home Casa Celina will do for so many people, many who have not had that stability before.”
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