The burgeoning number of baby carriages on Downtown streets make the frequently cited statistics about child population growth in Lower Manhattan visually apparent. Less apparent are statistics about the other end of the age spectrum. The senior population in Lower Manhattan (defined as people 55 and older) increased by 79 percent between 2000 and 2010 going from 4,613 people to 8,255. This compares to an average increase of 19 percent in the number of aged in Manhattan and 16 percent in all of New York City.

The statistics don't make for enticing reading but behind them are significant and sometimes tragic human problems - seniors, who are on limited and fixed incomes forced to move from homes and neighborhoods where they have lived for decades, "food insecurity," the euphemism often used for lack of enough money for food, unaffordable prescription medicine, lack of access to affordable dental care, isolation because of the death of friends and the indifference or the absence of families, mobility problems, mental health issues and more. 

The total population of Community District 1 is around 65,000 people. The district includes Battery Park City, the Financial District, the Seaport/Civic Center and Tribeca as well as Liberty, Ellis and Governors Islands.

The Financial District and Battery Park City saw the largest increases in the numbers of the elderly. In the Financial District, the senior population grew by 186 percent between 2000 and 2010. In Battery Park City, the growth was 145 percent.

Community District 1's Needs Statement for fiscal year 2016, submitted to the Department of City Planning on Aug. 4, states that "These trends create new needs for seniors with regard to housing affordability, amenities and services, street safety, ADA compliance and transportation."

The report goes on to say that, "CB1 is especially concerned about the ability of seniors to remain and age in place in our district. Fixed incomes cannot keep pace with rapid inflation in housing costs, especially rent and property taxes, that rise as neighborhoods become more desirable."

The report notes that in Community District 1, many units of housing were affordable or rent-stabilized because of tax credits that are now expiring. Some rental buildings that were previously rent stabilized have been sold and are being converted to condos.

If the elderly are less obvious than the young it is, in part, because many have mobility issues. They venture out of their apartments less frequently than parents with young families, headed for a park, or school or playground. If they are on limited incomes with no way to earn more, they are less likely to eat in a restaurant or go to a movie. Entertainment has to be low cost or free.

According to an article in the Wall Street Journal ("More Money for Seniors as City Grays," 7/25/14), "More than one in six people 65 and over live below the federal poverty line, pegged at $11,404 in annual income in 2011 in New York." This statistic came from the NYC Center for Economic Opportunity, a city agency.

Since the elderly are the city's fastest growing demographic, the Department for the Aging recently received an increased allocation from the city budget. The additional money will help to subsidize food served at senior centers such as the one at Independence Plaza North, 310 Greenwich St., where a hot meal is served from Monday to Friday. "The suggested donation for the meal is $1.50, but we don't turn anyone away," said Rachel Marotta, the assistant director of the center.

The Department of Aging's additional revenue from the city will also go to help subsidize increased costs for home-delivered meals.

In Battery Park City, usually considered to be a tranquil haven for the affluent, seniors now make up almost 15 percent of the population. Many live at Gateway Plaza, a "NORC," (Naturally Occurring Retirement Community), where they moved a few decades ago and raised their families.

In April 2009, New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who represents part of Lower Manhattan, brokered a deal with the LeFrak Organization, Gateway Plaza's owner, to allow people who were tenants at that time to remain in their apartments at rent-stabilized prices until 2020. By the terms of the deal, new tenants would come into the 1,705-unit apartment complex at market rates.

According to one elderly resident of Gateway Plaza, who asked not to be named, "Many seniors, including me, are very concerned about what will happen when that agreement ends."

In the meantime, an ad hoc group called the "Battery Park City Seniors" run by neighborhood resident Ruth Ohman, arranges for exercise classes, museum visits, art history classes, lectures, luncheons, neighborhood excursions and theater trips. On Tuesdays in good weather, the group goes for an hour-long walk. It alerts its members to free, ongoing local programs such as the adult chorus run by the Church Street School for Music and Art, computer and e-book assistance for seniors at the Battery Park City branch library at 175 North End Ave. and the senior swim and senior water aerobics at the Manhattan Youth Downtown Community Center, 120 Warren St.

Membership in the Battery Park City Seniors group is free as are most activities. "Free" is about as much as many seniors can afford.

Bits & Bytes

Downtown bulletin board

To the editor:
(Re: "AG raps Southbridge Towers board on knuckles for co-op offering," DPNYC, 8/22/14) In Friday's Downtown Post NYC, you quoted an unnamed shareholder from Southbridge Towers about the risks of re-constituting as spelled out in the Black Book. As a shareholder myself, I would like to point out that risk is a constant part of life, and that risk opens the door to opportunity.

With risk can come reward. Southbridge residents have pursued the idea of privatizing (according to the long-term Mitchell Lama plan) because they understand that investment in New York City real estate  has been enormously rewarding for those who have taken that risk. If Southbridge Towers re-constitutes as a private co-op, residents will have the opportunity to own a valuable asset without investing any additional funds, and will still continue to enjoy all the benefits of living in one of Manhattan's most attractive affordable communities.

Residents have been encouraged to consult their own legal and financial advisors to decide what course will be most beneficial to them. For most, it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and well-informed residents will vote 'yes' to take advantage of it.

(Name withheld at writer's request)

To the editor:

(Re: "George Post's lost Produce Exchange and its Seaport survivor," DPNYC, 8/22/14)

Again, thanks for all your great Downtown coverage.

Produce Exchange.

As an impressionable 17-year-old messenger walking the streets of Lower Manhattan, it was unbelievable to me why such a great building like the Produce Exchange would be torn down.

Before that as a child, I had witnessed the destruction downtown caused by the construction of the Battery Tunnel and the Brooklyn Queens Expressway in Brooklyn Heights. Possibly these events awoke in me a need to preserve the best of our built environment.

Thanks for reminding me about the monumental presence that is now a void in what once was a complete complement of Classical American architecture surrounding Bowling Green.

Joe Svehlak

To the editor:
Dogs in our neighborhood are currently experiencing an outbreak of kennel cough. If a pup shows signs of a cough, it should be kept away from other dogs and taken to a vet immediately for further diagnosis and treatment. Kennel cough is highly contagious. Even if the pup has been vaccinated against kennel cough, it can still get it. It seems the strain that is going around is a new one that the vaccine doesn't protect against. Here is a great link from the ASPCA about kennel cough. http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/dog-care/kennel-cough

Krysty Vallejos
(Owner of Urban Pawz, a dog-walking and grooming service in the Financial District)

From the editor:
We welcome letters to the editor. Email them to editor@downtownpostnyc.com. We reserve the right to edit them for clarity and length.

Some past competitors in the Great North River Tugboat Race on Labor Day weekend. This year, the race is on Aug. 31. For information about the spectator boat, click here.  (Photo: Terese Loeb Kreuzer)