Age-friendly Brooklyn and Age-friendly Manhattan

Beginning in 2018, NYAM partnered with the Borough Presidents' Offices in Brooklyn and Manhattan in an effort to make the entire boroughs inclusive and welcoming to older people.

Built upon the WHO framework for Age-friendly Communities, this work seeks to:

  • Regularly solicit feedback from older people about their quality of life to inform neighborhood planning processes;
  • Create new opportunities for health and well-being and increase social, physical, and economic participation;
  • Better connect older people with information and resources; and
  • Mobilize older people and their service providers to advocate for local age-friendly improvements.

Through the launch of Age-friendly Brooklyn and Age-friendly Manhattan, the Brooklyn and Manhattan Borough Presidents have committed to working with the City and private-sector partners to make improvements to local resources, institutions, services, and amenities that reduce or eliminate barriers identified through the survey.

NYAM has also been active in disseminating our age-friendly neighborhood work to the aging services network on a national scale. We have presented at the annual conferences of the National Council on Aging (NCOA) and the American Society on Aging (ASA) and will be presenting at the upcoming Hawaii Pacific Gerontological Society (HPGS) conference.

View Neighborhoods Resources

COVID-19 Neighborhoods Work

With support from the New York State Health Foundation and the New York Community Trust, and in response to the pressing needs of older adults during COVID-19, NYAM initiated a series of virtual convenings of over 30 Age-friendly Neighborhood leaders in partnership with the Manhattan and Brooklyn Borough Presidents. Over the course of six months, these convenings provide an opportunity for peer networking and the exchange of innovative practices to inform capacity building tools and to strengthen response in future emergencies regarding:

  • food access and distribution
  • access to information, communication and technology
  • access to healthcare and behavioral health services
  • the prevention of social isolation during social distancing

In addition, NYAM administers $2500 - $3000 grants to multiple age-friendly neighborhood groups that are working on projects to alleviate social isolation. These grants fund the purchase of computer tablets, WiFi, virtual educational classes, and digital and print newsletters.