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Opinion

How We’re Fighting Age Discrimination in the New York City Workforce


A New Yorker (photo: William Alatriste/NYC Council Media Unit)


Even with many of us working from home during the global pandemic, age discrimination was just as common in the workplace, and based on accounts from older adults, it has since grown even more rampant.  

Earlier this year AARP found that 80% of older workers have experienced or seen some form of age discrimination, the highest reported number since the survey began ten years ago. It was also found that between March and April of 2020, the unemployment rate for those 65 and older quadrupled from 3.7% to 15.6%. This pattern can only suggest one thing: older workers have not been given a fair opportunity to show their worth. 

Ageism is one of the least-discussed forms of discrimination our society faces and one we must speak out against. As we live longer, there are many individuals that, whether out of necessity or preference, will be working longer, and they must be treated just as fairly as their younger co-workers.  

Since the 1980s there has been an increase in the number of men and women over 65 in the workforce. In fact, the only employed age group expected to grow by 2030 are those 75 and older. As these individuals become even more common in offices and other workplaces, there are many ways the private sector can make their establishments more equitable places to work. But unfortunately, workers begin to experience ageism in their forties. By not giving workers of every age group — in addition to gender and culture — an opportunity to succeed, these businesses will lose out on ample opportunities. 

Studies have shown that businesses with a diverse workforce reach goals their competitors only talk about, including: retaining talent, because by ensuring all their employees feel a part of the team they are happier and more productive; innovating, because businesses with diverse staff reduce groupthink; reputation and profit growth, because when people see a diverse group working together, they like the company more and want to support it. 

You do not have to look hard for an example of how to create more inclusive policies either, because the New York City Department for the Aging’s Older Adult Employment Services has been helping to make offices in New York more age-inclusive for decades.

For residents 55 years and older who meet income eligibility requirements, the Department for the Aging’s (DFTA) Community Service Employment Program helps individuals develop skills so they can have an immediate impact within the organization they work for. DFTA also has the ReServe Program, which matches participants with part-time opportunities at New York City agencies, where their background in several sectors including law, marketing, health care, education, and finance, allows them to mentor their co-workers who benefit from their knowledge.

This year, DFTA’s Office of Public-Private Partnerships continued its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) combating ageism strategy and invited sister agencies to join online conversations focused on Building an Age Inclusive NYC. By adopting the DEI approach, city agencies not only create a culture of change internally, but they also influence the thousands of providers and vendors they work with. The most recent online sessions we conducted drew an average of 128 attendees, all representing DEI, Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO), and Agency Professional (APO) leadership.

These services were recently expanded with the new Silver Stars program, which gives retired civil service workers an opportunity to work part time at a city agency. This allows these retirees to continue contributing to the well-being of the city, while a new generation of civil servants benefit from their institutional knowledge, so they can troubleshoot problems and deliver services to residents, helping to create the next generation of talent New York will need going forward.

As more city agencies adopt age-inclusive policies, the organizations they work with can see how it is done, so they can replicate them in their offices, creating better cultures in thousands of businesses, nonprofits, and other organizations in every borough.

The fact is employers enjoy having older workers on their payrolls because they are the ones who stay at their jobs longer and take fewer days off. This is in addition to the strong work ethic they bring with them every day to the team they work with.

Creating these types of environments will not be as hard as employers think either. Why? Because both older and younger workers appreciate each other’s skills

Fostering collaboration between older and younger employees breaks down the stereotypes older workers continue to face. It will also make the employer stronger and in turn create an even more equitable city we can all be proud to live in. 

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Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez is Commissioner of the New York City Department for the Aging. On Twitter @NYCAgingCmmr & @nycseniors.

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In a ‘City of Yes,’ We Can’t Say No to Land Use Equity


Mayor Adams talks housing (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)


In the spring, the Adams administration announced “City of Yes,” a package of citywide zoning text amendments that ostensibly aim to advance affordable housing, jobs, and sustainability. ANHD applauds the recognition that a citywide approach is needed to combat our discoordinated land-use efforts.

But in a city driven by for-profit developers and powered by long-standing systems of racism and disparity, it will take an intentional approach to ensure we don’t continue to say “no” to land use equity. Instead, this administration must make New York a “City of Yes” for the land use needs and wants of our marginalized communities.

In the battle over land use in New York City there’s a growing push to label any community opposition to a given development as NIMBY (not in my back yard). This narrative is vastly over-simplified. It ignores the reality on the ground and the long-standing and ongoing power imbalances between communities.

It’s true that in the past several years we’ve seen neighborhoods reject a wide array of projects, from luxury housing to affordable housing to homeless shelters, infrastructure improvements to school construction. But to treat all this opposition as the same is not just wrong, it’s harmful. To paint all community opposition in the broad strokes of NIMBYism is to actively disempower and minimize the voices of low- and moderate-income communities of color and immigrant communities. 

It’s essential to recognize the difference in why certain communities say no to land use and development proposals. There’s a fundamental difference, for example, between primarily white residents of Throggs Neck saying no to a rezoning that would bring affordable housing to a low-density section of the neighborhood versus immigrant residents and residents of color in Astoria saying no to a predominantly luxury housing rezoning like Innovation Queens.

It’s the difference between saying we don’t want any affordable housing in order to preserve our neighborhood character and saying we want more affordable housing in the quantity and depth of affordability that truly serve our community instead of displacing it.

It’s a recognition of the differences between neighborhoods and an understanding that in communities with higher displacement concerns a new residential unit is not necessarily a positive if it’s out of reach of local residents. The way to provide affordable housing in those communities is not to rely on a trickle-down housing approach that provides primarily unaffordable, market-rate units. If, despite this nuance, the mayoral administration takes the line that it will say yes to all proposals, and more specifically, that it will dismiss all nos, it will actively deny the empowerment and voices of low-income communities of color.

New York City cannot continue the mistakes of previous administrations. The answer is not to try to suppress or work around community engagement, input and decision-making, or further retreat from transparency and accountability. The answer is for this administration to be a trailblazer for equitable planning: with the central goal of empowering New York City’s marginalized communities.

The answer is to chart a course for planning that prioritizes the critical interests of those communities with the greatest need for affordable housing, good paying jobs, and long overdue capital investments, while facing the greatest risk of displacement and discrimination. The answer is to be intentional about whose voices and needs we’re centering in our land use process and to commit to an approach that puts their inclusion and power front and center. 

The “City of Yes” is a critical opportunity for the Adams administration to lead equitable planning, by working in partnership with marginalized communities from the beginning. ANHD hopes this administration, unlike its predecessors, will hold robust community engagement and discussion, with a true opportunity for input and influence before any citywide zoning amendments are officially introduced. Not as an invitation for bad-faith actors to push policies of exclusion and displacement. But to ensure that those who have been harmed and disregarded by the zoning status quo are listened to and empowered, so we can finally begin to move towards the equitable planning outcomes we all claim to seek, and New York City deserves.

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Barika Williams is the Executive Director of ANHD. On Twitter @barikaXw & @ANHDNYC.

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Black LGBTQ Leaders to the Front of the Line


Sean Ebony Coleman, the author (second from left)


Visibility for the LGBTQ community is at an all-time high. Though this heightened exposure can lead to progress, there are also drawbacks – particularly when it comes to accurate representation of intersectional identities. When you think of LGBTQ leaders, who comes to mind? How many of them are Black?

It is important that, in addition to prominent white LGBTQ figures, the wider public is just as conscious of Black LGBTQ thought leaders who have the necessary lived experience to have exhaustive, informed discussions about various issues. To accurately represent and support the community when it comes to politics or public policy, we need to be strategic in appointing Black LGBTQ leaders to ensure they have a seat at the table.

While in the past few years some progress has been made for Black LGBTQ figures, many are still idolizing and positioning white LGBTQ folks as spokespeople for the entire community. This paints an inaccurate and harmful picture.

While it is demonstrably false, the misperception that the LGBTQ community has made more advancements than the Black community is very prevalent, particularly among Black people. The notion negates the intersection of being Black and LGBTQ, and the disparities that exist – disparities that are exacerbated when these two identities collide.

I understand where this image comes from – we picture a LGTBQ individual, perhaps a white gay man, who is celebrating Pride, enjoys equal rights to his straight counterparts in several areas around the country, and seems to live in abundance. This image, especially during June’s Pride Month, makes many in the Black community feel left behind as they watch another marginalized community advance and seemingly bypass them. While we have to be careful to not participate in the ‘Oppression Olympics,’ we have to have an open discussion about this reality.

To achieve legitimate and sustainable progress for Black and brown LGBTQ individuals, we need to uplift LGBTQ leaders who represent and embody the diversity and lived experiences of those who identify within the community. As a result of the over-representation of white gay cisgendered men and women as the leaders, outside perspectives are skewed and don’t recognize the many intersectionalities of identities. The failure to include Black and brown folks who are trans and gender non-conforming further perpetuates the silencing of these communities, who also face higher rates of violence being directed towards them.

The average life expectancy of a Black trans woman is 35 years. In 2021, at least 51 Black transgender people lost their lives to violence, which makes it the deadliest year on record. The average income for a Black trans person is $10,000, making it almost impossible to secure safe, affordable housing. Juxtapose this with the lack of visibility and stigma that still exist within the Black community around all things LGBTQ and we begin to see the full picture. Black trans/GNC folks play a vital role in representing the community and deserve a platform to educate others and denounce perceptions surrounding their existence. Creating safe space for Black LGBTQ individuals to share their legitimate lived experiences is a non-negotiable step towards progress. This is why I founded the Bronx LGBTQ center, Destination Tomorrow – Black and brown community members deserve to have a safe space right in their own neighborhood.

Black LGBTQ folks are in need of an organizing effort for our community to address the continued disparities. Many other minority groups have made progress towards eliminating issues facing their communities by directly addressing them through policy and political actions.

Throughout the pandemic we have seen heightened acts of racism and targeted attacks against the AAPI community, specifically against AAPI women. In response, the Stop Asian Hate movement was created to combat this violence – The New York City Commission on Human Rights, the Mayor's Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes, the Mayor's Community Affairs Unit (CAU), and the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs all began to coordinate closely to educate the public about their rights and protections in light of COVID-19-related stigma and hate crimes.

Moments like Stop Asian Hate help create a vision of what is possible for the safety of Black LGBTQ communities. With the proper organization and support, the creation of spaces to educate Black young LGBTQ folks around the issues that impact their lives is possible, but to this day these efforts are severely underfunded and disregarded.

We must hold other communities accountable and speak up at the table where we’re not represented. Calling attention to these issues and creating space for representation is the only way to change the dynamics of the conversation. White allies and LGBTQ individuals with more privilege must act to elevate the voices of those who are not being heard and fall victim to transphobia, homophobia, and racism.

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Sean Ebony Coleman is the founder and executive director of LGBTQ+ organization Destination Tomorrow and a longtime activist for transgender/gender-nonconforming rights. On Twitter @Dest2morrow.

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