New York, NY – This week, the City of New York released its Fiscal Year 2027 Preliminary Budget. While we recognize the significant fiscal challenges facing the City, this proposal falls far short of meeting the urgent and growing needs of older New Yorkers.

We acknowledge that this budget rectifies previous lapses in policy by formalizing commitments to Cost-Of-Living Adjustments (COLA) and by codifying Indirect Cost Rate (ICR) expenditures as line items, ensuring that frontline providers will receive the funds they have been promised in a timely manner.

However, the budget still fails to include the critical new investments in aging services called for by the Age Strong NYC campaign and desperately needed by older New Yorkers. Older adults are confronting rising rents, food insecurity, and too often a crisis of isolation; now, more than ever, new investments are needed to ensure that we can all age in dignity.

“This is a defining moment for how New York City supports its aging population,” said Allison Nickerson, Executive Director of LiveOn NY. “We understand this is a difficult budget year, but older New Yorkers cannot afford to wait. We are ready to work with the new administration to secure bold investments in affordable housing, nutrition, and community-based services that allow every New Yorker to age with dignity. Our priorities are aligned: making New York City affordable and livable for all of us as we age.”

LiveOn NY’s Age Strong campaign is calling for $2.3 billion to fully fund aging services in New York City, including:

Affordable Housing

Funding to build new SARA housing, maintain existing HUD202 housing, and keep older New Yorkers in their homes with SCRIE

Affordable Community Support

Rebuilding centers across the city, growing our network of NORCs, and ensuring programs have the resources they need to serve their communities

Affordable Nutrition

Serving 1 meal a day to homebound New Yorkers and funding OAC meals which have not seen any funding increases since 2020 to meet food inflationary costs

More information can be found on the Age Strong NYC website: https://www.liveon-ny.org/city-advocacy

More information on LiveOn NY can be found at our website: www.liveon-ny.org/.

If you would like more information, please contact Frank Shintaro McMullin, Communications Manager at LiveOn NY, at fmcmullin@liveon-ny.org or at (408) 620-0694.