NYC to open full-service LGBT senior center next year

NEW YORK – New York City is planning the nation’s first full-service center for seniors who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.

City officials say the new LGBT facility will be specifically geared to the needs of this segment of the population, whose members sometimes feel isolated from other seniors.

The center in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood is to open in January.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said it’s time to change the “one-size-fits-all” approach that has traditionally shaped senior centers. The new facility will serve LGBT seniors in the city’s five boroughs, helping them with everything from health to meals and technology.

Department for the Aging spokesman Christopher Miller said many LGBT seniors have encountered discrimination at general senior centers.