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Council Chair Susan Dang presses new NYC Aging commissioner over FY27 budget shortfalls, center conditions and meal coverage
Summary
At a May 2026 City Council Committee on Aging hearing, newly appointed NYC Aging Commissioner Dr. Lisa Scott McKenzie outlined a $573.5 million FY27 preliminary budget and faced sustained questioning from council members and providers about deteriorating senior‑center conditions, limited capital funding, and proposals to expand home‑delivered and congregate meals. Council members pressed for clearer metrics, faster interagency repairs for centers in NYCHA/NICHA buildings, and funding to guarantee weekend meal delivery.
Council Member Susan Dang, chair of the New York City Council Committee on Aging, opened a budget hearing on the New York City Department for the Aging’s (NYC Aging) FY27 preliminary plan, saying the agency’s $573.5 million request — about $32 million lower than FY26 adopted — will have to meet the needs of roughly 1.8 million city residents age 60 and older.
Dr. Lisa Scott McKenzie, who identified herself as commissioner of NYC Aging and said she was speaking on her ninth day in the role, delivered the agency’s overview and defended core program lines while acknowledging resource constraints. “We believe that New York City’s older adults have earned the right to age gracefully and with dignity,” she said, and pledged inspections of the agency’s 308 older adult centers.
The commissioner and agency CFO Jose Marcado said FY27’s $573.5 million includes $469.5 million in city funds and called out program allocations that will be central to the council’s scrutiny: $240.8 million for older adult centers (OACs), $78 million for home‑delivered meals (HDM), $47.4 million for case management, $36.5 million for home care, $16.3 million for NORC programs, $14.22 million for caregiver supports and $7.1 million for transportation services. The agency said it has baseline funding for providers’ indirect cost rates and an added COLA baseline in the preliminary plan.
Council members quickly shifted from process questions to program pressure points. Chair Dang showed photographs of a senior center in a NYCHA/NICHA building and said, “they said it’s pouring when it’s raining outside — it’s pouring inside,”…
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