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Department for the Aging
Founded in the late 1960s as a three-year pilot project called the Mayor's Office for the Aging, the agency became the New York City Department for the Aging in 1975, with Alice Brophy as its first Commissioner, and began operating under the public-facing name NYC Aging in 2022. The agency funds and coordinates services for the city's older adults, including more than 300 older adult centers that provide free meals, fitness, and social programming across the five boroughs.
What's working
- How many Older Adult Center participants are there?: 148,680 participants — increasing as centers recover toward pre-pandemic participation levels
- How many Senior Community Services Employment Program participants are there?: 372 participants — beats target by 60 participants
What's getting worse
- How many Older Adult Center total meals are there?: 6,452,188 meals — increasing as centers recover toward pre-pandemic meal service levels
- How many Home Care hours are there?: 1,278,931 hrs — misses target by 93,618 hrs
- How many Home Care clients are there?: 3,121 clients — misses target by 279 clients
Critical indicators
With a numeric target
How many Home Care hours are there?
1,278,931 hrsMisses target by 93,618 hrs
How many Home Care hours are there?
1,278,931 hrsMisses target by 93,618 hrs
* Year to date — this fiscal year isn't complete, so it's not compared against prior years in the target/trend status above.
View as table
| Fiscal year | Actual | Target |
|---|---|---|
| FY22 | 1,197,483 hrs | 1,100,000 hrs |
| FY23 | 1,311,169 hrs | 1,100,000 hrs |
| FY24 | 1,318,076 hrs | 1,100,000 hrs |
| FY25 | 1,278,931 hrs | 1,372,549 hrs |
| FY26 (YTD) | Not available | 1,372,549 hrs |
1,278,931 hrs in FY25 — missed the City's own target for this indicator (93,618 hrs below the 1,372,549 hrs target), though it has trended toward improvement over the past 3 years of reported data.
Why this is tracked
New York City is where the naturally occurring retirement community, or NORC, concept originated: dense apartment buildings where large numbers of original residents simply aged in place over decades. The first NORC program launched in 1986 with private funding, and state legislation in 1994 and city legislation in 1999 expanded the model, which now funds dozens of programs coordinating health and social services, including home-delivered meals, so homebound seniors and their caregivers can get support without leaving home.
NY State Office for the Aging: Naturally Occurring Retirement Community (NORC), NYC Aging: In-Home Services
How many Home Care clients are there?
3,121 clientsMisses target by 279 clients
How many Home Care clients are there?
3,121 clientsMisses target by 279 clients
* Year to date — this fiscal year isn't complete, so it's not compared against prior years in the target/trend status above.
View as table
| Fiscal year | Actual | Target |
|---|---|---|
| FY22 | 3,296 clients | 3,500 clients |
| FY23 | 3,452 clients | 3,500 clients |
| FY24 | 3,422 clients | 3,500 clients |
| FY25 | 3,121 clients | 3,400 clients |
| FY26 (YTD) | Not available | 3,400 clients |
3,121 clients in FY25 — missed the City's own target for this indicator (279 clients below the 3,400 clients target), and it has trended in the wrong direction over the past 3 years of reported data.
Why this is tracked
New York City is where the naturally occurring retirement community, or NORC, concept originated: dense apartment buildings where large numbers of original residents simply aged in place over decades. The first NORC program launched in 1986 with private funding, and state legislation in 1994 and city legislation in 1999 expanded the model, which now funds dozens of programs coordinating health and social services, including home-delivered meals, so homebound seniors and their caregivers can get support without leaving home.
NY State Office for the Aging: Naturally Occurring Retirement Community (NORC), NYC Aging: In-Home Services
How many Older Adult Center total meals are there?
6,452,188 meals — increasing as centers recover toward pre-pandemic meal service levelsMisses target by 1,885,881 meals
How many Older Adult Center total meals are there?
6,452,188 meals — increasing as centers recover toward pre-pandemic meal service levelsMisses target by 1,885,881 meals
* Year to date — this fiscal year isn't complete, so it's not compared against prior years in the target/trend status above.
View as table
| Fiscal year | Actual | Target |
|---|---|---|
| FY22 | 3,004,508 meals | Not available |
| FY23 | 5,548,305 meals | Not available |
| FY24 | 6,131,215 meals | Not available |
| FY25 | 6,452,188 meals | 8,338,069 meals |
| FY26 (YTD) | Not available | 8,338,069 meals |
Meals served at NYC Aging's Older Adult Centers were still recovering from COVID-19 pandemic disruptions during this period: the agency's own reporting notes that centers were "still working towards reaching pre-pandemic service levels" as of FY22-23, when meal service was well below the roughly 7.2-7.6 million meals served in FY19-20. The steady climb from 3.0 million meals in FY22 to 6.5 million in FY25 reflects that ongoing recovery in center attendance and reopened programming rather than a new trend.
Researched July 16, 2026 — NYC Department for the Aging, Fiscal 2023 Mayor's Management Report, NYC Department for the Aging, Fiscal 2025 Mayor's Management Report
Why this is tracked
The federal Older Americans Act of 1965 established a nationwide aging network of federal, state and local agencies. New York City responded in 1968 by creating the Mayor's Office for the Aging as a federally funded demonstration project to plan, coordinate and fund services like nutrition and hot-meal programs for the elderly. In 1975, a charter amendment elevated the office into the Department for the Aging, and through the following decades its community-based offerings expanded to include senior centers, transportation, employment support, legal services and elder abuse services.
NYC Aging: History, New York City Department for the Aging - Wikipedia
How many Senior Community Services Employment Program participants are there?
372 participantsBeats target by 60 participants
How many Senior Community Services Employment Program participants are there?
372 participantsBeats target by 60 participants
* Year to date — this fiscal year isn't complete, so it's not compared against prior years in the target/trend status above.
View as table
| Fiscal year | Actual | Target |
|---|---|---|
| FY22 | 259 participants | Not available |
| FY23 | 399 participants | Not available |
| FY24 | 377 participants | Not available |
| FY25 | 372 participants | 312 participants |
| FY26 (YTD) | Not available | 312 participants |
This indicator has swung sharply within the lookback window — a simple up/down label would oversimplify it, so no trend badge is shown here. See the chart and table above for the full picture.
Why this is tracked
The federal Older Americans Act of 1965 established a nationwide aging network of federal, state and local agencies. New York City responded in 1968 by creating the Mayor's Office for the Aging as a federally funded demonstration project to plan, coordinate and fund services like nutrition and hot-meal programs for the elderly. In 1975, a charter amendment elevated the office into the Department for the Aging, and through the following decades its community-based offerings expanded to include senior centers, transportation, employment support, legal services and elder abuse services.
NYC Aging: History, New York City Department for the Aging - Wikipedia
Without a numeric target
How many Older Adult Center participants are there?
148,680 participants — increasing as centers recover toward pre-pandemic participation levels
How many Older Adult Center participants are there?
148,680 participants — increasing as centers recover toward pre-pandemic participation levels
* Year to date — this fiscal year isn't complete, so it's not compared against prior years in the target/trend status above.
View as table
| Fiscal year | Actual |
|---|---|
| FY22 | 92,600 participants |
| FY23 | 145,747 participants |
| FY24 | 150,314 participants |
| FY25 | 148,680 participants |
| FY26 (YTD) | Not available |
Older Adult Center participation was still recovering from COVID-19 pandemic closures in this period. NYC Aging's own reporting describes a campaign to "encourage and reassure older New Yorkers to safely return to Older Adult Centers" after the pandemic disrupted services and visitation, and credits that effort for a jump in attendance as centers worked back toward pre-pandemic participation levels, which explains most of the rise from 92,600 participants in FY22 to roughly 150,000 in FY24-25.
Researched July 16, 2026 — NYC Department for the Aging, Fiscal 2023 Mayor's Management Report
Why this is tracked
The federal Older Americans Act of 1965 established a nationwide aging network of federal, state and local agencies. New York City responded in 1968 by creating the Mayor's Office for the Aging as a federally funded demonstration project to plan, coordinate and fund services like nutrition and hot-meal programs for the elderly. In 1975, a charter amendment elevated the office into the Department for the Aging, and through the following decades its community-based offerings expanded to include senior centers, transportation, employment support, legal services and elder abuse services.
NYC Aging: History, New York City Department for the Aging - Wikipedia