{"id":447671,"date":"2025-12-15T01:50:30","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T01:50:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/447671\/"},"modified":"2025-12-15T01:50:30","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T01:50:30","slug":"community-rallies-around-legendary-broadway-dancer-nat-horne-who-faces-losing-nyc-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/447671\/","title":{"rendered":"Community rallies around legendary Broadway dancer, Nat Horne, who faces losing NYC home"},"content":{"rendered":"

The local community is rallying around a Broadway icon and 95-year-old trailblazer who is at risk of losing the Hell\u2019s Kitchen home<\/a> he\u2019s called his \u201csanctuary\u201d for more than half a century.<\/p>\n

Thousands of neighbors, former dance students and even strangers are rallying around Nat Horne \u2014 an original member of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater\u00a0\u2014 who fears he won\u2019t survive leaving his long-time Manhattan abode for a nursing home. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll probably die if they take me out,\u201d Horne, who is celebrating his 96th birthday in December, told The Post. <\/p>\n

Nat Horne has lived in his Hell\u2019s Kitchen home since 1968. Stephen Yang for the NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s my home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Horne has depleted most of his funds to pay for in-home care and has nothing left to continue paying for the care and his rent.<\/p>\n

He has slowly been losing his memory since he was diagnosed with dementia in the spring of 2023, but needs to look no further than the walls of his living room to be reminded of the vibrant life he led.<\/p>\n

His third-floor walk-up unit on 47th Street is covered in movie posters, souvenirs and awards, but mostly photographs of the stars he worked with and coached, including Laura BaCall, Lena Horne and Martin Sheen.<\/p>\n

Despite the dementia, being legally blind and having recently undergone a hip replacement, Horne is vibrant and lucid, according to his former student and longtime friend Stanley Harrison, who visits the legendary dancer almost daily.<\/p>\n

Nat Horne, second from left, worked with Lena Horne, center, on the musical Jamaica. Stephen Yang for the NY Post<\/p>\n

The home is decorated with pictures and memorabilia. Stephen Yang for the NY Post<\/p>\n

Nat Horne worked with Lauren Bacall on the original 1970 Broadway production of the musical \u201cApplause.\u201d Stephen Yang for the NY Post<\/p>\n

Horne even performs as a frequent guest on the Erin Lee and Friends channel \u2014 a YouTube show run by his neighbor and former student \u2014 and typically sings songs from the 12 Broadway shows<\/a> he was crucial in bringing to life.<\/p>\n

But even so, a fall in the middle of the night last spring made it clear Horne needs round-the-clock care, an exorbitant cost that has completely depleted the retirement savings he carefully built after decades of dancing and teaching.<\/p>\n

By August, Harrison realized that Horne only had enough money to make it through December. <\/p>\n

Luckily for Horne, his friends, neighbors, former students and even strangers are pouring in to help him bridge the gap, all unwilling to let the neighborhood staple lose the home that has served as his refuge since 1968.<\/p>\n

Benjamin Magnuson, left, and Stanley Harrison are just two of many rallying around their hero. Stephen Yang for the NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s his demeanor, his generosity, spirit and what he gave us,\u201d said Harrison. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we were in class, he would say, \u2018You are gods and goddesses. Hold your head high and lift your chest. You deserve to be special\u2019 \u2026 That generosity is infectious.’\u201d<\/p>\n

They say it is their duty to give back to Horne, who they\u2019ve dubbed \u201cMayor of 47th Street\u201d for being a constant and friendly presence on his stoop in his later years.<\/p>\n

Horne\u2019s legacy in Big Apple show business is long and storied \u2014 and came on the heels of his groundbreaking stint as the first black member of the US Army\u2019s entertainment branch, the Special Services.<\/p>\n

Neighbors call Horne the \u201cMayor of 47th Street.\u201d Stephen Yang for the NY Post<\/p>\n

After spending years lifting troops\u2019 spirits abroad during fighting in the Korean War, Horne landed in New York City to pursue a career in entertainment.<\/p>\n

He appeared in a host of Broadway shows over the years, was an original member of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, worked on the\u00a0\u201cSammy Davis Jr Show\u201d and more.<\/p>\n

In the 1970s, Horne established The Nat Horne School for Musical Theatre on 42nd Street \u2014 though his company shuttered after about a decade.<\/p>\n

He even opened his Hell\u2019s Kitchen home to students, whether they needed a place to lay their head or an extra hour of dance practice.<\/p>\n

Horne continues to perform as a guest on his neighbor\u2019s YouTube channel, where he sings songs from his Broadway days. Stephen Yang for the NY Post<\/p>\n

Harrison was one of them, paying just $100 per month in 1977 for a warm bed \u2014 roughly $555 in 2025 money.<\/p>\n

Benjamin Magnuson, Horne\u2019s archivist, credits the dancer for the life he leads today after receiving a scholarship for the Muse Machine, an arts education program for youth in Dayton, Ohio, that Horne established. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe did that for many students every year. It\u2019s not that I owe him a debt, it\u2019s that I respect the idea of: it\u2019s not a handout, it\u2019s a handup,\u201d said Magnuson, a Broadway star who has appeared in shows like Sweeney Todd.<\/p>\n

While moving Horne into a nursing home or assisted living facility might seem like an option for other aging New Yorkers, Harrison and Magnuson fear it would usher in his death.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my home,\u201d said Horne. Stephen Yang for the NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cThis constant presence of humanity in space gives him energy and the willingness to continue. If he were in a home \u2014 Nat can\u2019t see people\u2019s facial expressions \u2014 he isolates himself from social situations,\u201d Harrison explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he would probably live a very isolated existence or a very lonely existence, and probably would die a lot sooner.\u201d<\/p>\n

The movement \u2014 taking donations through a GoFundMe campaign \u2014 has so far raised more than an incredible $30,000, a number his loved ones hope will grow to $100,00 \u2014 a price they say would account for a full year of rent, at-home care and medical costs.<\/p>\n

Horne is aware of the GoFundMe and, while he is surprised that so many people are willing to contribute to his cause, he\u2019s excited for what it could mean.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my home. I love it. I think it\u2019s a wonderful place to be. And I don\u2019t want to leave, I\u2019ll tell you that right now!\u201d Horne said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The local community is rallying around a Broadway icon and 95-year-old trailblazer who is at risk of losing…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":447672,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,19607,10929,77903,5249,5248,405,403,7619,5226,5225,5228,5227,67,586,132,5230,68,1154,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-447671","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-broadway","10":"tag-dance","11":"tag-elderly-care","12":"tag-manhattan","13":"tag-metro","14":"tag-new-york","15":"tag-new-york-city","16":"tag-new-york-city-life","17":"tag-newyork","18":"tag-newyorkcity","19":"tag-ny","20":"tag-nyc","21":"tag-united-states","22":"tag-united-states-of-america","23":"tag-unitedstates","24":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","25":"tag-us","26":"tag-us-news","27":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115721078219669535","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=447671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447671\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/447672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=447671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=447671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=447671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}