Though they’ve seen some improvements, many homebound seniors are still unsatisfied with the Bronx Meals on Wheels program since it was overhauled last month. Complaints to the Department for the Aging (DFTA) are down, but delivery times and the food quality are erratic, according to critics.

"It’s much better than it was, but they change the hours and the [delivery] person every day," said Rose Cohen, 89, of Kings College Place. 

Critics of the controversial overhaul were alarmed when the program, renamed Senior Options, debuted in October with seniors receiving their meals late in the evening, if at all. With two agencies — RAIN and Mid Bronx Senior Citizens Council — performing the work of the former 17 contractors, DFTA said the problems were due to initial stumbling blocks. 

"The drivers needed to get familiar with the routes," said Karen Schafer, DFTA’s 
assistant commissioner. After two of RAIN’s delivery trucks broke down in the 
program’s first week, DFTA acquired two backup vans, according to Schafer. RAIN, the area’s provider, now owns 17 vehicles.

DFTA claims that complaints have fallen since their peak of 100 in the program’s first week. Earlier this month, DFTA received a total of 12 complaints, according to Schafer. Tolentine Zeiser Community Center, a former local contractor, confirmed they’ve gotten fewer phone calls from seniors. "[Complaints] have died down," said Sister Margaret McDermott, the Center’s executive director.

But Fran Namzoff of the Mosholu Montefiore Community Center, which also lost its meals contract, still hears reports of late or erratic deliveries. "[Seniors] are still calling to vent," she said. 

As part of Senior Options, which DFTA hopes will save the city money, at least 30 percent of seniors now receive frozen meals twice a week. Previously, when all seniors received a daily hot meal, vendors made daily deliveries within a strict window of 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

But the 2 p.m. cutoff does not apply to frozen meals, according to Schafer. "We don’t have to speak to that [cutoff] with a cold meal," she said.

In a surprise to advocates, even the hot meals are no longer freshly prepared. Neither provider makes the meals on-site, instead ordering them from another contractor and reheating before delivery. RAIN receives its meals from the Jersey City plant of food giant ConAgra, according to Schafer. The Kosher meals come from Allied Foods in Queens.

The multiple stages of delivery and reheating hurt the meal quality, according to Namzoff, contending that the delivery trucks can refrigerate but not freeze. "If it’s out in trucks for many hours, and reheated, [the meal] tastes like garbage," she said.

Cohen says the overall quality is adequate, but the defrosting makes the food watery.

DFTA continues to defend the meals and the vendors. "We tried all the meals 
beforehand," said Schafer, noting that ConAgra is the largest frozen meals company in the country.

All the changes have a big impact locally with Community Board 7 receiving the second highest number of meals in the Bronx. Of the 530,643 meals delivered annually, almost 15 percent went to local seniors, according to DFTA figures.