Welcome aboard the “Market Ride.”
Brooklyn seniors can now buy nutritious, healthful foods at supermarkets %u2013 while enjoying the free ride there %u2013 thanks to a new age-friendly program cooked up by the New York City Department For The Aging (DFTA), which also stirs idle school buses into doing double duty during downtime.
Twenty-five shoppers from RAICES Times Plaza Senior Center, 460 Atlantic Avenue, were greeted by Commissioner Lilliam Barrios-Paoli as they made their maiden voyage to Red Hook’s Fairway Market, 480-500 Van Brunt Street, to load up on goods they might not have ordinarily have access to in their own communities.
“Most [seniors] rely on convenience stores that lack fresh foods,” said DFTA spokesperson Jeannette Reed, adding that the enterprise is among 59 initiatives detailed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg in the Age-Friendly New York City Report, compiled in conjunction with the New York Academy of Medicine and part of a global campaign by the World Health Organization to make cities a better place in which to grow old.
The reports targets areas of urban life from the perspective of seniors, including outdoor spaces and buildings, housing, and respect and social inclusion.
For more information, contact 311, or visit www.nyc.gov/aging.
