Committee on Aging meeting
March 12, 2026, 12:30 PM
The Committee on Aging took up the Mayor's FY2027 preliminary budget for the Department for the Aging. The item was filed with no separate hearing or vote recorded for this session.
What was discussed
- Chair Zhuang opens DFTA's FY27 budget hearing and swears in witnesses Council Member Susan Zhuang, chairing her first budget hearing as Chair of the Committee on Aging, gaveled in the Fiscal 2027 preliminary budget hearing for the Department for the Aging (NYC Aging), welcomed new Commissioner Lisa Scott-McKenzie, and the Committee Counsel swore in the agency
- DFTA Commissioner Scott-McKenzie presents the FY27 preliminary budget Dr. Lisa Scott-McKenzie, on her ninth day as Commissioner of NYC Aging, and CFO Jose Mercado presented the agency's FY27 preliminary budget, describing DFTA's mission to serve nearly two million New Yorkers over 60 through hundreds of contracted providers and signaling a shift away from a sole focus
- What are the new Commissioner's priorities, and will the budget keep pace with a growing older-adult population? Chair Zhuang pressed on DFTA's direction and funding. Commissioner Scott-McKenzie said the agency is realigning away from an ageism focus toward basic needs like food, safety, and affordable housing, and Mercado said growth would be met partly through budget-neutral and innovative approaches and
- What will DFTA cut under the Mayor's savings program? Asked by Chair Zhuang what DFTA would save under the Mayor's PEG and the end of the two-for-one hiring rule, CFO Mercado said the agency was still reviewing its budgets and had made no savings decisions, and the Commissioner said only two OMB-approved positions were being actively hired, with a
- Why does relocating DFTA's headquarters cost about $27 million? Chair Zhuang questioned the roughly $27.1 million cost of moving DFTA's headquarters to 14 Wall Street. Mercado attributed it to renovating the building for older adults, training centers, and staff, and Scott-McKenzie said the move went through the OMB bidding process and that final numbers would
- Is there enough funding for case management, and how long is the waitlist? Council Member Gale A. Brewer asked about case-management funding and waitlists. Mercado said the case-management budget is $55.5 million, baselined into FY27 with $4 million added in the November Plan, and Scott-McKenzie said 455 clients await full case management (down 38% from two years earlier)
- Who is responsible for fixing senior centers in NYCHA buildings like Throgs Neck? Chair Zhuang and Council Member Shirley Aldebol pressed on older-adult centers in NYCHA buildings with leaks and HVAC failures, including the long-closed Throgs Neck Senior Center caught in a NYCHA-to-PACT transition. Commissioner Scott-McKenzie acknowledged DFTA is not a capital agency, said it
- How will DFTA cover declining federal funds and a drop in home-delivered meals? Council Member Aldebol asked about lost pandemic-era federal funding and a reported 25% decline in home-delivered meals. CFO Mercado said the City had baselined all the expired federal funding so there is no fiscal cliff, and attributed the meals decline to a likely data issue that the agency would
- What would seven-day home-delivered meals cost, and will grab-and-go meals be allowed? Council Members Linda Lee, Crystal Hudson, and Chair Zhuang pressed on expanding meals. Mercado clarified that providing seven-day home-delivered meals (the subject of Intro 280) would cost about $27.7 million, correcting a larger figure raised earlier, and Commissioner Scott-McKenzie said DFTA
- Is NORC funding adequate, and what came of the anti-ageism campaign? Council Member Crystal Hudson questioned whether $16.3 million for NORCs is adequate as the 60-plus population heads toward 40% of the city by 2040, and asked about last year's $800,000 anti-ageism ad campaign. Commissioner Scott-McKenzie said DFTA would hold more talks with the Administration to
- Will senior centers have working AC and cooling centers this summer? Council Member Darlene Mealy, calling cooling a life-and-death issue, asked about AC readiness. Mercado said DFTA has been identifying and repairing sites with failing HVAC and would share a list, and Commissioner Scott-McKenzie said centers do have AC, that a status report is issued each September
- When will the delayed older-adult-center RFP be released? Council Member Mealy asked about the overdue OAC contracting RFP, previously expected in late 2025. CFO Mercado said the proposed RFP would likely come in fall 2027 with a July 2027 start, and confirmed it does not currently include expansion, though the new Commissioner would re-evaluate the RFPs.
- Are seniors being wrongly charged for meals, and how does DFTA ensure culturally appropriate meals? Council Member Mealy said seniors are turned away or feel pressured to pay for meals; CFO Mercado stressed meals are a suggested contribution that is never required and should be posted at sites. Chair Zhuang pressed on culturally appropriate (kosher, halal) meals and minority-owned contracting, and
- Does DFTA's discretionary-funding process create barriers for providers? Chair Zhuang and Council Member Mealy described small groups and providers unable to access Council discretionary dollars, including church-based senior groups stymied for years. CFO Mercado said DFTA does not stop anyone from receiving discretionary awards, requires only a budget and deliverables
- How will DFTA address senior housing, SARA delays, and SNAP benefit theft? Chair Zhuang raised slow senior-housing development under the SARA program, empty unrepaired NYCHA units, and rampant SNAP skimming in her district. Commissioner Scott-McKenzie said DFTA would advocate alongside HPD and use the Cabinet for Older New Yorkers (which includes NYCHA) to prioritize
- How is the Council's $5 million health-and-safety funding being used, and can DFTA get vans? Council Member Mealy asked how the Council's $5 million for OAC health-and-safety repairs was progressing. CFO Mercado said it was going well, with many small repairs and two large renovation projects underway, asked for the funding to be renewed in FY27, and pitched for new transportation vans
- Aging-services providers urge more funding for meals, COLA, and centers A long line of provider organizations testified, including Catherine Thurston (SPOP), Marcus Jackson (Encore, backing Intro 280's seven-day meals), Beth Finkel (AARP NY), Anita Kwok (United Neighborhood Houses), Abbie Rubin-Pope (UJA), John Shin (KCS), Kalman Bokow (India Home), Jeanette Estima
- Provider details the home-sharing program that prevents senior evictions Linda Hoffman, President of the New York Foundation for Senior Citizens, testified about the citywide home-sharing program and, in extended Q&A with Chair Zhuang and Council Member Mealy, said social workers match older adults with hosts (most matches in Brooklyn and Manhattan), that the program
- Seniors describe their older-adult centers as a lifeline Older New Yorkers testified about what centers mean to them, including Lydia Ortiz Weiss (whose ISEP case management was a 'lifeline' during a two-year homebound recovery), Sonia Valentin, Christine Tse and Vivian Patanio (FIAO members seeking five-day-a-week programming), Sabur Rashid (Center for
- LGBTQ+ elder organizations seek dedicated support Aaron Tax of SAGE, the nation's oldest organization for LGBTQ+ older people, and Hew Rose Evans of the American LGBTQ Museum testified about isolation, housing insecurity, and health disparities facing LGBTQ+ elders and urged the Council to fund services and discretionary requests that protect and
Agenda
1 item
- T2026-1354 New York City Council Budget and Oversight Hearings on The Preliminary Budget for Fiscal Year 2027, The Preliminary Capital Plan for Fiscal Years 2027-2030 and The Fiscal 2026 Preliminary Mayor’s Management Report 12:30 p.m. Department for the Aging 2:30 p.m. Public Filed, by Committee