Age-Friendly Cities

If I could choose a time and place to get old(er), I very well might choose the present time in New York City. Why the present? There are just so many of us over 50 at this time in history that I feel I am part of a seething throng (see right). We have power, resources, panache—I could go on and on. Plus, the global Age-Friendly Cities Project, initiated by the World Health Organization, has been gaining momentum and spreading, making the world age-friendlier one city at a time.

And exactly why would I want to age in New York? Our NYC is only the second city in the U.S.—after Portland, Oregon—that has taken up the gauntlet and joined the Age-Friendly initiative. The project here is being coordinated by the New York Academy of Medicine, in partnership with the New York City Mayor’s Office, the New York City Council, and other stakeholders. Learn more at Age-Friendly New York City also see what the Health Information Center has to say about it.

But there’s more: in late September 2008, The New York Public Library formed a partnership with the New York City Department for the Aging (DFTA) which oversees most of the senior centers in NYC. Piloting in the Bronx and soon migrating to Manhattan and Staten Island, this move heralds a time of closer cooperation between libraries and senior centers. How are the libraries and senior centers working together? To be continued. . .