With the borough’s senior citizens outnumbering the entire population of such American cities as Cincinnati, St. Louis and Salt Lake, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams yesterday released a report with 33 recommendations to make their lives easier.
The comprehensive 48-page report dubbed, Age-Friendly Brooklyn, was compiled in partnership between Adams’ office and the New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM). It is based on 1,895 survey responses and cites a number of government agencies, academic institutions and civic and business organizations.
Its recommendations cover eight broad areas relating to seniors’ including outdoor spaces and buildings, transportation, housing, social participation, social inclusion, civic participation and employment, communication and information, and community support and health services.
“The measure of any society is how well we treat our seniors, and right now we as a city aren’t doing enough to ensure that they can lead fulfilling and productive lives as they age,” said Adams yesterday at the Saint John’s Recreation Center that caters to the senior community in Crown Heights.
Among the report’s key recommendations are the following:
- Install more public seating throughout the borough, such as CityBenches, a city Department of Transportation (DOT) program that provides comfortable public seating.
- Ensure streets are clean and intersections are well-lit, with a particular focus on neighborhoods that have high rates of hospitalizations from falls.
- Train bus drivers to pull up fully to the curb so that seniors can get on and off the bus safely.city
- Invest in more supportive housing for seniors to reduce the rent burden many are experiencing.
- Integrate training for seniors into already-existing workforce development programs across the borough.
- Increase funding for computer and tech classes geared toward seniors administered through the New York City Department for the Aging (DFTA).
The report comes as Brooklyn’s aging population continues to grow. Nearly a third of the city’s 1,168,268 million adults aged 65 and older live in Brooklyn. These 337,741 individuals comprise 13% of the borough’s 2.6 million residents. By 2040, this population is projected to grow to over 428,845, becoming 15% of the population, according to the report.
Interestingly, the report failed to mention the often reported senior complaint concerning how the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s rollout of their Select Bus Service (SBS) and increase in limited bus service has seen a decrease in local bus stops. These stops are often closer to where seniors lives and they are not as mobile to walk the longer distance to express stops.
Adams responded that, “We are certainly concerned about the impact this may have on seniors, and we believe the MTA needs to do an analysis to ensure seniors can access bus service easily.”
Among the more interesting findings from the report reveal that Brooklyn’s older population demographic adds oversized social and financial capital to the borough. For example, older adults have higher voting rates than other age groups. Additionally, the report cites a Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce’s economic assessment in 2017 that showed Brooklyn’s older adults earned nearly $9 billion in annual income and contribute more than $7 billion to the local domestic product per year.
In regard to individual neighborhoods, all neighborhoods with the exception of Greenpoint are projecting an increase in their percentage of residents over the age of 65.
Council Member Robert E. Cornegy, Jr. (D-Bedford-Stuyvesant, Northern Crown Heights), who was in attandance at the report release, said there are two ways to gauge the health of a community: looking at its young people, and looking at its senior population.
“When young people can grow into able and successful adults, and when seniors can age in place with access to the appropriate support, that’s a sign of a healthy community,” said Cornegy. “I look forward to learning more about the findings of the ‘Age-friendly Brooklyn Report,’ and how we can make Brooklyn an even more appealing borough for senior citizens.”
Adams said in total, the report offers a roadmap for making Brooklyn more age-friendly, touching on everything from street design to technical education for our seniors.
“We owe a great debt to those who came before us, and who gave so much to make our borough what it is today,” said Adams. “I thank The New York Academy of Medicine and all our other partners for their advocacy on behalf of our borough’s seniors, and urge the city and state to immediately take up our recommendations.”
