City Council Must Pass Bill to Ensure Home-Delivered Meals for Older Adults

I used to see him in the hallway of our apartment building from time to time. He lived alone after his wife passed, just next door to me. He kept to himself. A few times, I invited him to come with me to the theater, but he always declined.

When the elevator in our building was out, as it often was, I’d help him carry his groceries up the stairs to the fourth floor where we both lived. I thought to myself at times: how would he manage if I couldn’t help him? We had these small, passing interactions, but I never once saw the inside of his apartment. I remember thinking his days must have been long and quiet.

Then one day, he was gone. I stopped seeing him, and after a while, I realized my neighbor must have passed on.

There was no announcement, no gathering, nothing to mark his passing. Just the absence of someone whom I had become used to seeing for many years. And this is the sad reality for too many older New Yorkers.

I often think back to him—how he managed day to day, and whether he always had what he needed, including something as basic as food.

Today, more than 1.8 million New Yorkers are over the age of 60, a number that continues to grow every year. In Manhattan, tens of thousands of older adults live alone, many of them homebound and at risk of food insecurity and social isolation. As the city’s aging population grows, so will its needs.

And while this reality is known to many of our leaders, the system falls short in a fundamental way. Our city currently funds home-delivered meals for homebound older adults only five days per week. That policy suggests that older adults don’t need to eat on weekends. And it’s a serious, dangerous failure to the folks who built this city we currently enjoy.

Hunger does not keep a weekday schedule. Malnutrition does not take Saturdays and Sundays off. For older adults who are homebound or living with chronic illness, missing meals can quickly spiral into serious health consequences like hospitalization, accelerated decline, and even death.

We are talking about people who raised families here, worked here, paid taxes here, and shaped the communities we now call home. And yet, during what’s supposed to be their golden years in one of the wealthiest cities in the world, we are effectively telling them that five days of food is enough.

When older adults have consistent access to nutritious meals, they stay healthier and more independent, with the fuel they need to enjoy their lives. Home-delivered meals are essential to the survival of so many older adults in our city. For many, it is the only regular human interaction they have. A knock on the door. A quick check-in. A moment of recognition.

The City Council has an opportunity to address this in its next session. Passing Bill Intro 0280-2026 would ensure home-delivered meals are available for older adults seven days a week, 365 days a year.

No one in New York City should go hungry. And no one should disappear without being noticed.

Yakov Keiserman is an older adult and a member of Encore Community Services.