It was a soiree for Brooklyn’s sagest.
Senior citizens from across the borough gathered at Kingsborough Community College on Aug. 26 for Borough President Adams’s second-annual “Seniors by the Sea” event.
About 400 Brooklynites of a certain age danced and dined after the Beep expounded on his plan to make the borough a better place to grow old in. Adams told attendees that he had recently read an article calling New York City one of the worst places in the country to age, and that he was determined to change that.
“Many of our seniors are homebound or don’t have access to technology,” the Beep said. “This is a way of having them come out, meet other seniors, dance, eat, play, coalesce, and get real information.”
Brooklyn has the largest population of people 65 and older in the city, which is projected to grow to 410,000 seniors in 2030, up 45 percent from 2000, according to the Department of City Planning.
Organizations providing services to the elderly sponsored the event and set up tables with representatives and pamphlets. Adams also spoke to seniors about the need to stay healthy and eat right, touting new booklet of health-conscious recipes compiled by Borough Hall called “Cut the Salt, Curb the Sugar.”
“I noticed my blood pressure was getting a little high, and I’m reasonably healthy,” Adams said. “I like good tasting food, but there has to be a way of eating healthy without losing the taste.”
One senior said the highlight of the event was the chance to get out of the house and interact with others.
“I saw some people I haven’t seen in a while and I met new people,” said Patricia Williams, 70, of Bedford-Stuyvesant. “Events like this one sometimes are the only opportunity to for seniors to get out and socialize.”
