New York City’s population of older adults, which currently represents 20% of our city’s entire population, will only grow as the Baby Boomer generation ages (older adults are our future!). A 2021 CUNY Graduate Center study reports that the population of adults ages 65 and older in New York State will soar 25% between 2021 and 2040, compared to just three percent growth in the general population. In New York City alone, the number of older adults is expected to jump 40% by 2040, especially as New Yorkers are living longer. Simply put, we should have prepared for an aging New York decades ago.

We’ve failed time and again, but it’s not too late to turn the tide and make New York City a place where every older adult can age in place with dignity.

After working with groups like AARP, LiveOn NY, the Asian American Federation, other members of the New York City Council and more to identify key issues facing older adults and brainstorm solutions, Crystal crafted the #AgeInPlaceNYC legislative package last session. Last session, we successfully passed seven of ten bills in the package, including monumental laws to expand Right to Counsel to all older adults, require universal design in all city-funded housing, expand access to telemedicine and telehealth devices, and expand culturally appropriate programming at older adult centers. 

This session, we’re fighting for even more: stronger interagency coordination to support older adults across issue areas, greater meal options, more tech support to adapt to technological developments, new resources to educate older adults about common fraud schemes, and policies to lay the groundwork for universal elder care across the five boroughs. 

Int. 228 (Hudson): Information Regarding the NYC Care Program to Older Adults

This bill would require NYC Aging to make information available to older adults about NYC Care, the NYC Health + Hospitals initiative to provide low or no-cost primary health care to income-eligible NYC residents. NYC Aging would be required to ensure that such information describes the NYC Care initiative and provides eligibility guidelines for the initiative. This information would be provided to older adults in paper form and made available at all locations where NYC Aging or NYC Aging-contracted entities provide services to clients. Such information would include a statement that eligibility to participate in NYC Care is not based on immigration status, and that support services are offered through NYC Care, including access to social workers and care coordinators that connect eligible individuals with housing, legal services, financial assistance, and food assistance.

Int. 237 (Hudson): Grab-And-Go Meal Program at Older Adult Centers

This bill would require NYC Aging to establish a grab-and-go meal program, which would provide daily meals available for pick up at participating older adult centers for members of the centers. This bill would also require NYC Aging to make available to every participating older adult center a notice that provides information on the grab-and-go meal program. Every participating older adult center would be required to post the notice in a conspicuous location.

Int. 238 (Hudson): Technical Support Program for Older Adults

This bill would require the NYC Aging and the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications to develop a technical support program to serve older adults.

Int. 689 (Hudson): A Cabinet for Older New Yorkers

This bill would codify a Cabinet for Older New Yorkers, made up of the commissioners of city agencies or their designees and chaired by the commissioner of NYC Aging. The cabinet would facilitate inter-agency collaboration to improve services for older New Yorkers. The commissioner of NYC Aging would be required to report to the Council, the Public Advocate, the Comptroller, the Borough Presidents and the public on the activity of the Cabinet.

Int 725 (Schulman): Older Adult Housing Reporting

This bill would require New York City Aging (“NYCA,” formerly the Department for the Aging), in collaboration with Housing Preservation & Development (HPD), to submit an annual report on how many seniors live in apartment buildings in each Council district and how many of those apartments are retrofitted for people with disabilities, including mobility issues.

Int 770 (Lee): 365-Day Home Delivered Meals

This bill would require the NYC Aging to operate the home-delivered meals program, which is to maintain or improve the nutritional status of older adults who are unable to prepare meals, such that each older adult authorized to receive such meals, is provided with at least 1 home delivered meal a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. This delivery frequency would apply to all contracts between DFTA and a home-delivered meal provider that are in effect on or after the effective date.

Int 1022 (Gutiérrez): NORC & N-NORC Plan

This bill would require the Commissioner for NYC Aging to conduct a three-year study on Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORCs) and Neighborhood Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (N-NORCs) in New York City. The study would identify potential NORCs and N-NORCs, assess the needs of older adults, evaluate necessary improvements, and collect data on demographic trends and health outcomes. Within two years of completing the study, the Commissioner would be required to develop and implement a plan to support aging in place within these communities. This plan would include recommendations for officially designating identified communities, resource estimates for supportive service programs, training for community-based organizations, infrastructure improvements, and the establishment of a grant program to subsidize aging-friendly home modifications such as grab bars, ramps, and other accessibility features.

Int 1025 (Hudson): Employment Discrimination & Older Adult Workforce Program Information

This bill would require the New York City (NYC) Department for the Aging (DFTA) to provide information regarding older adult workforce programs administered by DFTA to all contracted older adult centers and clients of all contracted providers. This bill would also require that DFTA develop, publish, and distribute a pamphlet to all older adult workforce program participants about programming and resources available to assist or otherwise support older adults seeking employment and volunteer opportunities. The pamphlet would include information to assist older adults in identifying and addressing employment discrimination, as well as the name, address, contact information, and website of relevant government agencies or community-based organizations that an older adult may contact to obtain additional information about issues regarding employment discrimination.

Int 1053 (Hudson): Older Adult Information & Service Center Feasibility Study

This bill would require NYC Aging to conduct a feasibility study regarding the creation of older adult information and service centers. Older adult information and service centers would serve as physical locations where older adults can sign-up for city based services and receive information concerning NYC Aging programming. In the feasibility study, NYC Aging would be required to identify at least five potential locations in each borough for the creation of older adult information and service centers. The feasibility study will also identify considerations for locating proposed sites and potential services that can be provided at centers. Additionally, the feasibility study would require NYC Aging to assess the potential benefits of establishing older adult information and service centers and potential constraints. Finally, this bill requires NYC Aging to submit a report to the Mayor and Speaker of the Council regarding the findings of the feasibility report.

Int 1054 (Hudson): DFTA Ten Year Plan

This bill would require the Commissioner for NYC Aging (“the Commissioner”), in consultation with cooperating agencies, to submit a 10-year aging in place plan to the Mayor and the Speaker of the Council, and to post the plan on NYC Aging’s (“the Department”) website. The aging in place plan would focus on assisting older adults with aging in place throughout New York City, including in naturally occurring retirement communities and neighborhood naturally occurring retirement communities, and would include proposed projects and recommendations. The Commissioner would be required to submit the aging in place plan no later than 1 year after the effective date of the local law that enacted the plan. Two years after the publication of the aging in place plan and every two years until the plan’s completion, the Commissioner would be required to post on the Department’s website and to submit to the Mayor and the Speaker of the Council a progress report detailing the status of projects and recommendations that were included in the 10-year plan.

Int 1092 (Hudson): Elder Fraud & Financial Literacy Awareness

This bill would require that the department for the aging develop printed and digital informational materials to educate older adults about internet scams, phone scams, and phishing scams and provide quarterly guidance to older adult centers about emerging scams. It would require that the department post a digital version of the informational materials on its website, and would require the commissioner to ensure that such informational materials are distributed to homebound older adults and that older adult centers distribute such informational materials to older adults in their facilities. Additionally, this bill would require the department to develop printed informational materials to educate older adults about financial literacy and end of life preparation.

Being Drafted

Alzheimer’s Disease & Dementia Task Force: This bill would require NYC Aging to establish a temporary task force aimed at educating city agencies on how to work with constituents who present symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia & their caregivers. The task force would be required to create a report on how and what the city is doing to support those living with the disease and what each agency is doing around the issue. It would also be required to make recommendations for each city agency that they would then need to implement within a certain period following the task force’s conclusion.