LiveOn NY Response to the New York City Executive Budget

New York City is rapidly aging, yet older adults and family caregivers remain largely absent from the Mayor’s Executive Budget. Once again, the City has failed to meaningfully address the realities older New Yorkers face every day, while the Department for the Aging continues to receive less than one-half of one percent of the City’s total budget.

These funding gaps have meaningful consequences. Homebound older adults go without adequate nutrition because the City funds only five Meals-on-Wheels deliveries per week. Older adults cycle in and out of hospitals because they lack community support. Family caregivers face long waitlists for bilingual services, while frontline aging workers, including transportation staff, cooks, and social workers, continue earning poverty-level wages under City contracts.

Without adequate investment, older New Yorkers face eviction, lose access to healthcare, or enter the homeless shelter system simply because community-based supports are unavailable or underfunded.

It does not need to be this way.

We know investments in aging services work. Community-based programs reduce avoidable hospital readmissions, EMS calls, and Adult Protective Services interventions while helping older adults remain healthy, connected, and safely housed. More than that, these investments reflect whether New York City values our dignity and humanity as we age.

A city budget is a statement of priorities, and this Executive Budget makes clear that older New Yorkers are still not being prioritized. Despite claims of increased funding, the budget contains cuts, and older adults were barely acknowledged at all. And at a time when more than 550,000 people remain on waitlists for affordable senior housing, senior housing production and preservation is not keeping pace.

At LiveOn NY and across our member agencies, we are ready to work with Mayor Mamdani to build a city that reflects the needs and dignity of older New Yorkers. But those commitments must be reflected in policy, funding, and action.

Older New Yorkers and family caregivers cannot continue to be treated as an afterthought. LiveOn NY’s Age Strong campaign is calling for $2.3 billion to fully fund aging services in New York City, including affordable housing, community services and supports and nutrition. More information can be found on the Age Strong NYC website: https://www.liveon-ny.org/city-advocacy