City Preliminary Budget Testimony

The following testimony was shared with the New York City Council Committee on Finance.

New York City Council
Committee on Finance, Chair, Council Member Daniel Dromm
March 2, 2020
Preliminary Budget and Oversight Hearing

Thank you, Chair Dromm and the Finance Committee, for the opportunity to testify on how we can work together to make New York a better place to age. LiveOn NY also thanks Mayor de Blasio, Speaker Johnson, DFTA Commissioner Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez, Aging Committee Chair Margaret Chin and the entire City Council for their consideration of the needs of older adults in the FY21 budget.

LiveOn NY would not want to miss an opportunity to testify on record to the significant budgetary investments needed to best serve New York’s older adult population.

With a base of more than 100 community-based organizations, LiveOn NY’s members provide core services that allow older adults to thrive in their communities, including senior centers, congregate and home‐delivered meals, affordable senior housing, elder abuse prevention services, caregiver supports, transportation, NORCs and case management. DFTA’s network provides services to over 50,000 older adults daily. Let’s be clear: these services are vital to the well being of older adults. Studies have shown that services such as senior centers, home delivered meals, and many others help prevent social isolation and positively impact health outcomes.

LiveOn NY recognizes and is encouraged by initial investments in senior services by the de Blasio Administration and ongoing investments by City Council. With that said, the DFTA budget still accounts for less than half of 1% of the total City budget, a point that is only exacerbated by the fact that aging New Yorkers now outnumber school-aged children. It is imperative that we continue to develop and maintain a robust system that will serve the rising number of older adults in the City. Aging is a multifaceted process, and supports need to be in place to address the nutrition, housing, and overall well-being of older New Yorkers. As the City continues to grow and prosper, we must not leave behind the people who helped build it. The need is urgent, especially when we consider that according to a study by Center for an Urban Future, 20% of older adults in New York City are living in poverty.[1] To truly show our commitment to the older adult population, the City must properly invest in the Department for the Aging, and go #AllInForAging.

LiveOn NY’s priorities are attached to our testimony, and are briefly highlighted below: 

Invest $16 Million for Home Delivered Meals

First, it is important to note that the Home-Delivered Meals program is currently in the middle of an RFP solicitation, in which  nonprofits are poised  to determine their ability to continue participating in the program. From a mission driven standpoint, this is an easy decision. The program is invaluable, as the majority of individuals utilizing the program are women of limited means who live alone, and on average, these meals account at least half of their total food for the day. Nationally, 59% of meal recipients live alone, and the person delivering the meal is often the only person they will see that day and provide much needed social interaction.[2] However, despite the clear importance of this work, from an economic standpoint the decision to continue participating in the City’s home-delivered meal program becomes much more treacherous.

Currently, providers are losing hundreds of thousands of dollars each year through these contracts. At the $9.58 funding rate provided in the current RFP, nonprofits will continue to lose money on every meal they serve. At this rate, NYC will be reimbursing providers approximately 20% below the national average of what a meal cost in urban areas five years ago.[3] Evidence of the inadequate funding available is also displayed through the Human Services Council RFP rating, which scored the RFP at 75% in overall risk — the highest scoring of risk in the history of the rater — with financial adequacy being the greatest driver of risk.

With more than 27,000 older adults having received these life sustaining meals in 2019 alone, we must ensure that the program is kept solvent for years to come by making the necessary investments.

According to the Mayor’s FY19 Management report, 4,554,828 meals were delivered to 27,065 homebound older New Yorkers, numbers that have consistently grown over the past few years.

An investment of $16 million in new funding is needed to support the home-delivered meals system across the five boroughs. Of this, $13 million is needed to solve the shortfall for weekday meals and $3 million will support weekend meals. These funds will help account for increases in raw food costs, including the associated costs of providing more diverse, culturally competent meals, and to support increase in costs for environmentally conscious disposables to serve food. Further, funding is necessary to account for the overall increase in meals served and rising costs of labor. It is critical that funds are provided to support fair salaries for home delivered meals staff, without whom this incredible program would not be possible.

Invest $1.7 Million to Achieve Pay Parity for NORC Staff

Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORCs) are housing developments or neighborhoods where a large number of older adults are aging in place. By providing support services such as case management, assistance with benefits applications, support groups, health and wellness services, older New Yorkers are able to remain in their homes and communities. NORCs help older adults avoid nursing home stays that can cost as much as $142,000 annually per person. Currently, there are 11,000 older adults spread across dozens of NORCs across New York City.

However, the NORC staff that provide who these critical support services earn, on average, $15,000 less than their DFTA-funded senior center counterparts, even if they are performing the same duties. As a result, the nonprofit organizations who run these critical programs often grapple with staff recruitment and retention. $1.7 million in new funding is necessary to achieve pay parity across DFTA programs and ensure fairness not only for staff, but for the older adults living in these NORCs.

Invest $1.8 Million for Service Coordination in Senior Housing

LiveOn NY recommends an increase to the per-unit allocation of service funds through the SARA service program administered by HRA. Currently, only $5,000 in funding is awarded per SARA unit that is occupied by a formerly homeless senior, which makes up 30% of a building’s units. Units occupied by older adults coming from the general Housing Connect lottery system are not eligible for any City funding for services, though it is expected that services are made available to these tenants. While LiveOn appreciates and strongly prefers the inclusive nature of the program as it stands, we do not believe that the currently-available funding is sufficient to ensure the type of robust programming that is required for older adults.

More specifically, in order to make budgets work, providers are often having to offer less services than are believed to be preferred by older residents or are unable to offer the predominantly female human service workers in their buildings the competitive salaries they deserve—and that providers want to give—due to the lack of funds. For example, many older adults would prefer an individual at the front desk at all times to support the physical wellbeing of tenants in the event of emergency. However, most budgets cannot allow for this 24/7 service, and there is no mandate to include such a position.

To address these challenges, and ensure funding is available for senior service providers to keep wages on pace with the recent prevailing wage increases, we recommend that HRA also make available a minimum of $3,000 per year per non-formerly homeless SARA unit, in addition to the $5,000 currently available for services for formerly homeless tenants. This funding would show a recognition from the City that older adults of all housing backgrounds can benefit from the light-touch services offered by a social worker in their place of residence. Further, the funding would recognize that while an individual might not initially present with significant need for assistance, we all can benefit from additional supportive services as we age. A $1.8 million increase in FY21 would allow an initial 600 SARA general lottery units to receive funding.

Invest $3.2 Million to Further Increase Equity Across Senior Centers

In 2017, when the Department for the Aging analyzed the budgetary needs of senior centers as part of the ‘Model Budget’ process, 38 centers were left out of this analysis. These were satellite senior centers and social clubs that will need to compete in the forthcoming RFP process, yet will be hamstrung from doing so due to the upfront disparity of funding. Using the average funds received by senior centers during the initial process, LiveOn NY estimates that $3.2 million in new senior center funding is needed to promote equity within these spaces.

Invest $3 Million for DFTA Infrastructure Funds

The FY19 Mayor’s Management Report saw an “increased utilization” of of the 249 DFTA contracted and 38 affiliated senior centers that served more than 124,000 older adults. Over 30,000 New Yorkers frequented these centers for activities and meals daily. A baselined capital fund is necessary for replacements, repairs, and upgrades that are critical to the continued functioning and ADA friendliness of the facility. For example, the release of the new home delivered meals RFP introduced the chilled or refrigerated meals format in addition to hot and frozen meals. In order to accomodate the production and the storage of this new format, home delivered meal providers need funding for equipment and increase their capacity to supply these meals. Meanwhile, as the hot summer moments approach and senior centers are often requisitioned into doubling as cooling centers, aging HVAC will need to be replaced or repaired especially because older adults are more vulnerable to heat stress. This $3 million new, baselined capital investment will ensure that the services contracted through the Department for the Aging are able to make needed repairs or investments, and do not fall into disrepair, today or in the years to come.

Invest $2 Million for DFTA Innovation Funds

Likewise, in order for senior centers to implement age-friendly improvements to their facilities, innovation expense funds are essential. In addition to more modest age-friendly improvements, funding can streamline the home delivered meal process and enhance efficiency with the purchase of new technology. For instance, home delivered meal providers are still tediously tracking their routes using pen and paper. Software would enable meal providers to track their deliveries in real time and allow for GPS mapping. Data would also be easier to see, collate, and analyze, which can be used to improve service delivery to the client and prioritize their needs. Further, the continued availability of $2 million in innovation expense funds will ensure that DFTA contract programs can continue to invest as new technology becomes available that can enhance the wellbeing of the older adult population.

Restore and Baseline One-Time $9.7 million funds

As the older adult population steadily grows, funding for services need to be maintained permanently to prevent any sort of disruption in critical programs. The $2.8 million for senior centers, $2.84 million for home delivered meals, $1 million for NORCs, and the $2.1 million for NYCHA community spaces should all be baselined and to sustain these programs moving forward. Further, by only making these investments on an annual basis rather than baselining the investments, providers are unable to use them to increase salaries or fill budgetary gaps as is most urgently needed.

Further, City Council’s $1 million case management investment should be baselined, as waiting lists for this program continue to grow, as they have done for years, indicating continued investment will be required to meet demand.

Fulfill Existing Promise of $10 Million in New Funds For Senior Centers

In 2017, $10 million was promised in the Model Senior Center process in FY21. Senior Centers even received documentation from DFTA and OMB indicating the amount of funding that they would receive. However, this $10 million promised was not included in the preliminary budget. This must be rectified, especially given the upcoming senior center RFP. Senior centers are cornerstones in their communities for older adults that provide everything from congregate meals to mental health services. Undercutting their funding would mean undercutting the seniors that frequent them.

Council Restorations and Investments in Senior Services Through Schedule C

City Council has long been a staunch supporter of City and district-wide senior services programs through allocations in Schedule C. We thank you for your investments and advocate for full restoration for all Senior Service Programs funded in Schedule C. These include NORCs, Support our Seniors, SuCasa, Senior Centers for Immigrant Populations, Health Aging Initiative, Social Adult Day, and others. We also support the growing call for an expansion of the Geriatric Mental Health Initiative by adding $950,000 to this Council initiative.

Continued Investments in Human Services Sector

Years of underfunding the sector have resulted in the entire human services workforce being some of the lowest compensated workers in New York City’s economy. A 3% COLA on the personal services line of all human services contracts at the cost of $48 million is needed in the FY21 budget to ensure this vital workforce does not slip further into poverty. The Mayor and City Council have taken important steps to begin to address this crisis with previous multi-year cost-of-living investments, but there is no COLA in place for future years. The 3% COLA is a needed investment while workers, advocates, providers, and elected officials continue to work together on more comprehensive solutions to ensure that human services workers finally earn fair pay for their labor.

LiveOn NY looks forward to working with Mayor de Blasio, City Council, DFTA, and all City agencies to make New York City a better place to age through a strong network of community-based services.

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LiveOn NY’s members provide the core, community-based services that allow older adults to thrive in their communities. With a base of more than 100 community-based organizations serving at least 300,000 older New Yorkers annually. Our members provide services ranging from senior centers, congregate and home-delivered meals, affordable senior housing with services, elder abuse prevention services, caregiver supports, case management, transportation, and NORCs. LiveOn NY advocates for increased funding for these vital services to improve both the solvency of the system and the overall capacity of community-based service providers.

LiveOn NY also administers a citywide outreach program and staffs a hotline that educates, screens and helps with benefit enrollment including SNAP, SCRIE and others, and also administers the Rights and Information for Senior Empowerment (RISE) program to bring critical information directly to seniors on important topics to help them age well in their communities.

[1] Center for an Urban Future, New York’s Older Adult Population is Booming Statewide, February 2019

[2] Meals on Wheels of America, Delivering So Much More than Just a Meal Fact Sheet, United States, 2018

[3] For home delivered meals, in FY17 DFTA reimbursed providers on the average $9.58 compared to the national average rate of $11.06.

LiveOn NY Releases New Report, Beyond Bricks: Affordable Senior Housing with Services

For Immediate Release

WRITTEN BY: Jenna Gladfelter, Public Policy Associate

CONTACT: Katelyn Andrews, Director of Public Policy, kandrews@liveon-ny.org, 212-398-6565 ext. 244

New York, NY – On Tuesday, February 25th, 2020, LiveOn NY hosted an event entitled Beyond Bricks: Affordable Senior Housing Symposium — the largest event in New York City to focus on both aging and housing. Stemming from our work with our Affordable Senior Housing Coalition, Beyond Bricks brought together housing executives, management companies, elected officials, and other representatives from public, private, and governmental organizations within the housing and aging services industries.

Deputy Mayor Vicki Been delivers keynote address

Deputy Mayor Vicki Been kicked off the symposium by delivering the keynote address. Been has extensive experience fighting to make New York a more affordable and equitable city; now, she leads the Administration’s efforts to grow and diversify New York City's economy, invest in emerging industries across the five boroughs, build a new generation of affordable housing, and help New Yorkers secure good-paying jobs. The Deputy Mayor laid the groundwork for the day by sharing about the City’s commitment to affordable housing, and the steps that are being taken to help older adults obtain and secure affordable housing.

Our first panel, entitled Developing Health: How the State Can Connect Health & Housing, focused on the intersection of health and housing and how the State can best leverage existing, low cost community-based services to address the housing need. With Lauren Weisenfeld of The Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation as moderator, we were joined by Nicole Ferreria of NYS Homes & Community Renewal, John Cochran of the NY State Office for the Aging, Michael Gusmano of Rutgers University, and Sydelle Knepper of SKA Marin. In partnership with Selfhelp Community Services, Michael Gusmano completed a study of Selfhelp housing residents compared to older adults in the surrounding community. On average, Selfhelp residents had a 30% less rate of hospitalization, and were discharged one day earlier than nonresidents. Overall, the findings of this study suggests that investments in housing with supportive social services have the potential to reduce hospital use, and thereby decrease medical spending for older adults and enable them to remain in their homes longer.

Council Member Cornegy Jr, Council Member Salamanca Jr, Public Advocate Williams, & Scott Short of RiseBoro Community Partnership

For our second panel, we were joined by Council Member Rafael Salamanca Jr, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Council Member Robert E. Cornegy Jr, and Scott Short, CEO of RiseBoro Community Partnership. The topic of discussion was entitled The Drafting Table: What Commitments are Needed to Meet the Demand for Senior Housing? Council Member Salamanca reported that 63,000 New Yorkers slept in shelters the night before. “We need more housing for these seniors,” said Salamanca. Public Advocate Williams recognized NIMBY-ism, or Not in My Backyard, as a real obstacle to building new housing; but the solution is to involve the community in the process. “There are some communities who want to remain the same — but if the city looks like it does in 100 years, then we failed.”

Mackenzie Price, PhD from Frameworks Institute, a nonprofit think tank that advances the mission-driven sector’s capacity to frame the public discourse about social and scientific issues, delivered closing remarks for the event. Frameworks has done a great deal of research regarding both housing and aging. Price challenged attendees to consider how they are framing their messaging of affordable senior housing. “It’s not just what you say; it’s how you say it,” said Price.

LiveOn NY also released its new report, entitled Beyond Bricks: Affordable Senior Housing with Services, which highlights several of the affordable senior housing models throughout the city, as well as individuals who live in them. The report also includes targeted recommendations, including increasing city subsidy for service coordinators, making investments on the state level, and reviving the Federal HUD 202 program entirely.

Statement on the Fiscal Year 2021 State Executive Budget

For Immediate Release: January 22, 2020
Questions: Katelyn Andrews, Director of Public Policy, kandrews@liveon-ny.org

There are small victories to be encouraged by in Governor Cuomo’s Fiscal Year 2021 budget release. Most notably, LiveOn NY is pleased with the positive steps forward associated with $798,000 in new funds for the Wellness-in-Nutrition program; continued funding for Affordable Senior Housing capital; continued funding of $15 million to address unmet needs for seniors across the state; and $868,000 in new funds for in-home and community services for older adults. With that said, we are dismayed by the continued neglect of cost of living adjustments (COLA) for the workforce contracted through the New York State Office for the Aging (NYSOFA); by disregarding these needed wage increases, the state continues to put the human services workforce at financial risk as they age. Further, we are disheartened by the continued stagnation of the NYSOFA budget as a whole. While the proposal’s overall budget has increased by 1.9%, funds for older New Yorkers decreased by .8%, despite the fact that seniors are the fastest growing demographic in our state. Progress within our state must be enjoyed equitably across the lifespan and at LiveOn NY we know that there’s more that can and should be done to make this a reality. As budget negotiations continue, we implore the state to do more for older New Yorkers and the cost-effective system of services that serves them, while ensuring older adults are held harmless from feeling the effects of any changes to Medicaid.

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LiveOn NY in the News July-December 2019

At LiveOn NY, we work hard to make sure that the public hears about the issues affecting older New Yorkers, as well as the incredible momentum that exists as we grow old. To this aim, we are proud of each and every time we are able to share this narrative with our local communities or to comment on a topic affecting older New Yorkers.

Below are a few articles & press releases noting our work: 

December 23, 2019 “Skepticism on Proposed Changes to MTA Ride Service for the Disabled” article by Roshan Abraham in City Limits

December 13, 2019 “De Blasio Admin’s Senior Housing Production Scrutinized” article by Roshan Abraham in City Limits

November 5, 2019 “Builders warn prevailing wage for service employees will have ‘crippling’ effect on affordable housing” article by Will Brederman in Crains New York Business

October 23, 2019 “Climate Control is a Year-Round Issue at NYCHA, Especially for Seniors” article by Roshan Abraham in City Limits

October 7, 2019 “BP Adams and the New York Academy of Medicine Unveil Findings from their Boroughwide Survey of Seniors, Including Recommendations to Create ‘Age-Friendly Brooklyn’” press release from the New York Academy of Medicine

September 27, 2019 “Speaker Johnson and City Council Release Report on Zoning Tools to Speed Up ADA Accessibility in the New York City Subway” press release from the New York City Council

August 19, 2019 “With One in Seven Seniors Facing Food Insecurity, CM Chin Introduces Bill to Expand Reach of SNAP” press release from the Office of Council Member Chin

August 16, 2019 “Mayor de Blasio Announces Results of Streamlined Contracting Process for Health and Human Service Providers” press release from the Office of the New York City Mayor

Testimony on the Need for Affordable Senior Housing

The following comments were submitted to the New York City Council.

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New York City Council
Joint Hearing
Committee on Aging, Chair Margaret Chin
Committee on Housing and Buildings, Chair Cornegy
December 12, 2019
Affordable Senior Housing

Thank you to Chairpersons Chin and Cornegy, and committees, for holding this important hearing on affordable senior housing.

LiveOn NY’s members include more than 100 community-based organizations that provide more than 1,000 programs to serve older New Yorkers. These core services include senior centers, home‐delivered meals, caregiver supports, NORCs, case management and homecare. Additionally, many of LiveOn NY members develop, manage, and provide services in affordable senior housing buildings throughout the five-boroughs, as well as Nassau and Suffolk counties. Through policy efforts, LiveOn advocates to increase funding and capacity for our members to meet the needs of older adults in their communities. In addition to numerous other trainings and programs offered by LiveOn NY, we are proud to convene our Affordable Senior Housing Coalition, which works to ensure the senior perspective is represented in the larger conversation of affordable housing needs.

Background

The need for affordable senior housing with services remains as or more significant today as it was in 2016, when LiveOn NY first reported our finding that an estimated 200,000 seniors were on waiting lists for housing through the HUD202 program in New York City. Findings also showed seniors wait an average of 7-10 years for a unit to become available. It quickly became evident to LiveOn NY that seniors were not immune to the housing crisis that has taken hold of our city, as the vacancy rate continued to hover around 3%. In fact, housing challenges may disproportionately impact seniors, as many older adults live on fixed incomes that cannot keep pace with rising rents; experience mobility challenges that limit housing options within an aging rental-stock; and are found to have high rates of rent burden, with one third of individuals receiving the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE) benefit paying more than 70% of their income on rent.

The University of Pennsylvania recently released stark findings that, without intervention, the population of individuals 65 and older experiencing homelessness is likely to balloon to almost 7,000 individuals by 2030. This is far beyond the 1,438 individuals 65 and over who spent last December in temporary shelter, as reported by City Limits. Statistics indicate that we have yet to reach the peak of the housing crisis for seniors, and increased intervention by all levels of government is needed to abate an even more disastrous scenario for the oldest among us.

Seniors First Initiative

Given the current need, LiveOn NY has been pleased to see the Administration’s clear recognition of the need for senior specific housing as demonstrated through the investments and commitments included in the Seniors First Initiative, which has most notably brought about historic commitments to the production and preservation of affordable senior housing. Through this initiative and the Senior Affordable Rental Assistance (SARA) program in particular, NYC is now home to the nation’s first LGBTQ friendly affordable senior housing developed by SAGE and partners; Queens has opened its doors to HANAC’s new environmentally friendly senior building; the Bronx welcomed WSFSSH’s Tres Puentes, which will bring significant new health care resources to the MillBrook community; and thousands of seniors, including many who had experienced homelessness, now have an affordable place to call home. 

LiveOn NY sees the SARA program, which is often utilized in conjunction with NYCHA NextGen, as an incredible success and feat for the City. However, in recognition of the significant continued need and the ability to continue to refine and improve upon current efforts, LiveOn NY respectfully offers the following recommendations:

Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, LiveOn NY strongly recommends an increase to the per-unit allocation of service funds through the SARA service program, administered by HRA. Currently, only $5,000 in funding is awarded per SARA unit that is occupied by a formerly homeless senior, which makes up 30% of a building’s units. Units occupied by seniors coming from the general Housing Connect lottery system are not eligible for any city funding for services, though it is expected that services are made available to these tenants. While LiveOn appreciates and strongly prefers the inclusive nature of the program as it stands, we do not believe that the currently-available funding is sufficient to ensure the type of robust programming that is required for older adults. 

More specifically, in order to make their budgets work, providers are often having to offer less services than are believed to be preferred by seniors or are unable to offer the predominantly female human service workers in their buildings the competitive salaries they deserve—and that providers want to give—due to the lack of funds. For example, many seniors would prefer an individual at the front desk at all times, to support the physical well-being of tenants in the event of emergency. However, most budgets cannot allow for this 24/7 service, and there is no mandate to include such a position. 

To address these challenges, and ensure funding is available for senior service providers to keep wages on pace with the recent prevailing wage increases, we recommend that HRA also make available a minimum of $3,000 per year per non-formerly homeless SARA unit, in addition to the $5,000 currently available for services for formerly homeless tenants. This funding would show a recognition from the city that older adults of all housing backgrounds can benefit from the light-touch services offered by a social worker in their place of residence. Further, the funding would recognize that while an individual might not initially present with significant need for assistance, we all can benefit from additional supportive services as we age. Finally, funding for service coordinators in senior housing is proven to reduce health care costs. In fact, LiveOn NY’s member Selfhelp Community Services recently released a study of the residents in their senior affordable housing program. The study compared Medicaid data for residents in their housing in comparison it to seniors living in the same zip codes over a two year period. This crucial research found that the seniors living in Selfhelp’s affordable housing had significantly more positive outcomes including:

• 68% lower odds of being hospitalized

• $1,778 average Medicaid payment per person, per hospitalization for Selfhelp residents, versus $5,715 for the comparison group

• 53% lower odds of visiting an emergency room compared to a non-Selfhelp resident

Secondly, the city must continue to develop new affordable senior housing on all types of land—not just sites made available through NYCHA NextGen. While the NYCHA NextGen RFPs represent a critical and welcomed opportunity for the construction of new affordable senior housing, these cannot be the only projects prioritized. Without publicly committing to ensuring room is in the pipeline for proposals from alternative sites, private investment in land or pre-development planning for affordable senior housing will slow. Lack of certainty can be a driver of cost increases or speculative actions; therefore by sharing this information, mission-driven, non-profit providers can adequately prepare to respond to new opportunities. To this point, LiveOn NY notes that we have found HPD’s team to be extremely approachable and communicative about their development timelines. However, we welcome further commitments from the Administration around senior development outside of the NYCHA NextGen program.

Thirdly, LiveOn NY recommends that the City ensure that senior housing is prioritized in its overall development pipeline, allocating additional resources as needed to ensure extremely-low income seniors can be served. Given the extensive amount of time devoted to both the land-use and construction processes, delays in closing on senior properties should not place potential developments on hold. For older adults, the value of time takes on new meaning, making the urgency of the housing crisis and the need to prioritize this particular type of housing more pronounced. If projects are put on hold due to lack of investment from other levels of government (e.g. the availability of project-based vouchers or volume cap), LiveOn recommends that the City publicly and specifically articulate the nature of these challenges to ensure that the public has the information needed to effectively advocate for said resources.

Finally, LiveOn NY recommends further coordination between city agencies—particularly DFTA, HPD, NYCHA, and City Planning—as development sites are selected with the potential to include space for senior programming. As existing senior centers continue to face increased capital needs and rent increases, and the demographics of seniors continues to shift across the five boroughs, LiveOn NY recognizes the significant opportunity to improve the senior center system through the inclusion of communal space in new affordable senior housing developments. Positively, this has been in practice in some cases; however, the process to bring a new center to life has often proven challenging, filled with both uncertainty and a lack of uniformity, despite significant effort by all involved. LiveOn NY recommends the agencies come together and develop a uniform mechanism for new developments to incorporate space for senior centers that will require city funds for operation. A critical component to this should be addressing the challenges related to the varying timelines a developer must adhere to, while simultaneously allocating funding to a center in accordance with city procurement rules. This is especially important for centers that would be developed after FY22, as the senior center RFP process will have just come to a close.

New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA)

LiveOn NY would be remiss if we did not mention the importance of increased funding for NYCHA, as public housing also represents one of the few affordable options for older adults in New York City. With the Physical Needs Assessment estimating the capital backlog to be $32 billion and the barrage of news headlines indicating the dilapidated current state of the City’s Housing Authority, it is critical that funds are made available and are well-utilized to improve living conditions for NYCHA tenants. Additionally, it is important to note that community spaces operating within NYCHA have not been immune to the capital and operational challenges plaguing the developments. The Wall Street Journal estimated $500 million in capital funding is needed for NYCHA community spaces, which include senior centers and other valuable programs for NYCHA tenants and the surrounding communities. While much emphasis has been accurately placed on the need to improve the living conditions in units within NYCHA developments—which LiveOn NY wholly supports—it is nonetheless critical that these life-sustaining services also be included in the dialogue of NYCHA related needs.

Intro 6 and Intro 225

Finally, LiveOn NY would like to express our strong support of Intro 6 and Intro 225, introduced by Council Member Barron and Council Member Brannan, respectively.

LiveOn NY has been a longstanding proponent of the City’s anti-eviction efforts, including the Right to Counsel initiative spearheaded by Council Members Gibson and Levine. We welcome and support the passage of Council Member Barron’s efforts to further protect older adult tenants from facing displacement by ensuring the City receives advance notice of planned evictions of elderly tenants in order to share legal assistance resources with said individuals.

LiveOn NY also supports Council Member Brannan’s efforts to ensure age-friendly accommodations be made by landlords in an older adult’s place of residence. It is our understanding that this effort is in line with current practices related to reasonable accommodation requirements under the City’s interpretation of the Human Rights law, and we are pleased to see continued efforts to codify this practice of providing support as requested by the older tenant.

LiveOn NY thanks Chairs Chin and Cornegy and the full committees for holding today’s hearing, and we look forward to working together in the upcoming fiscal year.