Forget Florida: they grew old and started life again in New York

NEW YORK — Bob Krinsky encouraged his much younger neighbors to run 5 kilometers (3 miles) in howling winds on Brooklyn’s icy waterfront. Then, when they were warmer, he gathered the running group in a circle.

“All right, everyone, hands in,” he said, as they clasped their hands together in the center. “That was amazing.”

At 65, he is the club’s designated CVO: director of good vibes. “We’re the ones who keep pace with Bob,” said 29-year-old Alexa Brewster. “I wish I was joking, honestly.”

Last year, Krinsky moved from San Francisco to Williamsburg, a former industrial neighborhood in Brooklyn, to be closer to her two adult children after the end of her 30-year marriage. He’s starting life over in a two-bedroom apartment with panoramic views of the Manhattan skyline on the 47th floor, paying nearly $11,000 a month in rent.

“I’m a 35-year-old man trapped in a 65-year-old body,” he said. “I thrive on the energy here, and I think my youthful vibe contributes to that and is nourished by it.”

Krinsky is among the growing number of seniors moving to New York City, undeterred by high prices, cramped living spaces and the logistical challenges of navigating crowded sidewalks, especially for those with bad knees.

By 2023, an estimated 15,705 people ages 65 and older will have moved to New York City, a 40% increase from 2019, according to an analysis of census data by John Mollenkopf, a professor of political science and sociology at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

These older New York immigrants often followed their children to the city and may help care for grandchildren. Others come in search of better medical care, the convenience of not needing a car or to visit museums, shows and restaurants that they cannot find anywhere else. Some are newcomers to the city, while others have returned after decades of absence.

“There are a lot of seniors who don’t want to be cooped up in a nursing home,” said Jonathan Bowles, executive director of the Center for an Urban Future, a Manhattan think tank that studies aging issues. “For them, New York is a great antidote. It’s a place where they can actually live a second life.”

Many are from the baby boomer generation, the enormous post-World War II generation that has long shaped the economic, social and cultural life of the United States. Now, baby boomers are redefining what it means to grow old.

As a teenager, Suzy Curley dreamed of living in New York. After her husband’s death in 2023, she decided to join her son in Manhattan. A family friend introduced her to Mark Jovanovic, a broker at Compass real estate agency, who helped her buy a $1.5 million one-bedroom apartment in Greenwich Village. To pay for the property, she sold her home in Fort Worth, Texas, where she had lived for more than 40 years, as well as a weekend home nearby in Bluff Dale.

Curley, 79, now shops at the Union Square Greenmarket and rides the subway almost everywhere. She takes separate ballet classes at the Broadway Dance Center, in downtown Manhattan, and film and art classes at New York University. She has been to museums, plays, operas and even the recording of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”.

“Almost every day, on the sidewalk, I say out loud to myself, ‘I can’t believe I can live here,’” she said.

Swap your dream home for city life.

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Mollenkopf’s analysis revealed that the majority of older New Yorkers simply aged out in their own homes, bringing the city’s population aged 65 and older to 1.43 million in 2023, up from 1.28 million in 2019.

And those who have just arrived, like Curley, are still outnumbered by those who leave. An estimated 22,355 elderly residents will leave the city in 2023, many heading to warmer, cheaper retirement destinations.

But Boca Raton, Fla., or Phoenix don’t cut it for some New Yorkers arriving later in life.

Melissa Leifer, a broker with Keller Williams NYC, said older buyers now account for about 40% of condo sales, compared with about 15% a decade ago. RiverSpring Living, a nonprofit senior living community, has also been receiving a growing number of out-of-state inquiries for its 30-acre campus in the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx.

According to real estate agents and developers, older newcomers often have money coming from selling larger homes in the suburbs or from substantial savings accumulated after decades of working and saving.

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In Brooklyn, Amy and Dr. Paul Silverman are in their second retirement. In 2012, they built a retirement home in Asheville, North Carolina, with a porch overlooking the mountains, a fire pit, beehives for fresh honey, and apple and pear trees. “This was the last planned stop,” said Paul Silverman, 74, a retired oncology radiologist and ceramic artist.

But Amy Silverman, 73, who has macular degeneration, ended up having to stop driving and became frustrated with being stuck at home. The quality of local medical care has deteriorated, and some of his friends have moved to be closer to their families or to live in retirement communities.

So the Silvermans sold their home in 2024 and used the money from the sale, along with some of their savings, to buy a $2.3 million two-bedroom apartment in Boerum Hill, just 2,200 steps from their son’s family. Now, Amy Silverman walks her Australian labradoodle, Poppy, around her neighborhood, takes the subway alone and works as a volunteer English teacher. Paul Silverman is a short elevator ride from the building’s ceramics studio.

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“A lot of people our age have already saved,” said Paul Silverman. “Now, if you can afford to do that, instead of going on a cruise or something like that, why not invest in a lifestyle that will benefit you every day, every hour, with a world-class city at your fingertips?”

Still, New York prices represented an adjustment period. The Silvermans ordered takeout once, and never again, after paying about $100 for Indian food for two people.

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For others, including retirees surviving on a fixed income, moving to New York isn’t even an option because the cost of living is prohibitive. As the city faces a housing affordability crisis, the number of seniors living in poverty has risen to nearly 1 in 5 people, according to the Center for an Urban Future.

Brunchs and nights out with millennials

Many older immigrants left behind their families and groups of friends, and found themselves like strangers in a new city. But some said they were pleasantly surprised by how friendly New Yorkers were.

After Curley’s dog Blanche, a white terrier mix, fell ill and had to be euthanized in December, her neighbors sent her cards and letters, and invited her to dinner. A woman gave him a box of goodies from La Maison du Chocolat and a copy of EB White’s book “New York Sketches,” with a bookmark next to the obituary he wrote for his family dog, Daisy.

The Silvermans host a Sunday brunch of coffee cake, scones and fruit salad for their neighbors, many of whom are in their 30s and 40s, and go out with them for drinks and birthday parties.

One day, when a neighbor received a new sofa, Paul Silverman jumped on it to see if it was comfortable. The neighbor was on the phone with a coworker who asked, “Is this like ‘Friends’?”

“We just offer a different perspective,” Amy Silverman said. “I’m not preaching to them because they’re not my kids, but we live a lot longer, so I think that’s part of the issue.”

Krinsky, who runs a healthcare strategy consulting firm, only knew his sons, Harry Krinsky, 31, and Leo Krinsky, 26, when he moved to Brooklyn. To achieve his goal of “creating communities” for himself, he signed up for softball, basketball, and beach volleyball leagues through the Volo Sports app. He also joined two running clubs and took improv classes with Second City.

Krinsky calls himself “the veteran” among a crowd of people in their 20s and 30s. He has already given professional advice to his neighbor, Brewster. When another neighbor, Bruna Fabregat, 35, fell ill, he left a jar of chicken soup on her doorstep. On Krinsky’s birthday, his neighbors recorded congratulatory messages and thanked him for inspiring them in a video.

“It’s a gift to have his perspective on life, people and careers,” Brewster said. “We feel very privileged to have Bob in our group.”

Leo Krinsky, who lives in Williamsburg, said he was surprised when his father moved to a place four blocks away. He jokingly told his father that he wasn’t allowed to go to the same bars. “I thought, ‘Wow, this might be too close for my taste,’” he recalled.

But in the end everything worked out. Bob Krinsky sees his two sons every week or two for dinner, the gym or a basketball game. He’s even been invited to their birthday parties. His eldest son stayed with him while he was without an apartment.

Krinsky said he had no regrets about becoming a New Yorker.

“I think I’ve lived the best year of my life this past year and I’m very energized,” he said.