{"id":637888,"date":"2026-03-07T04:37:55","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T04:37:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/637888\/"},"modified":"2026-03-07T04:37:55","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T04:37:55","slug":"aarp-new-york-seniors-face-financial-distress-over-rising-utility-costs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/637888\/","title":{"rendered":"AARP: New York seniors face financial distress over rising utility costs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>ALBANY, N.Y. (WNYT)- AARP New York\u2019s survey highlights rising utility costs pushing older New Yorkers into financial distress, impacting essentials like food and medication.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/wnyt.com\/top-stories\/new-york-lawmakers-push-plans-to-lower-prescription-drug-prices-and-utility-costs-ahead-of-state-budget-deadline\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">New York lawmakers push plans to lower prescription drug prices and utility costs ahead of state budget deadline<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The report, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aarp.org\/pri\/topics\/livable-communities\/utilities\/new-york-utility-survey\/?CMP=RDRCT-PRI-MONY\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Energy Affordability Challenges in New York<\/a>, shows significant concern among those 50 and older, with calls for state action to make energy more affordable. Beth Finkel, State Director of AARP New York, emphasized the struggle with energy bills and the need for state leaders to provide solutions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUtilities aren\u2019t a luxury; they\u2019re essential to living safely and with dignity,\u201d said Finkel. \u201cNo one should ever have to choose between paying a utility bill, buying medication, or putting food on the table.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The survey reveals strong demand for state intervention, with 93% believing officials should ensure affordable utilities. Bill McDonald, State President of AARP New York, says he supports measures for financial relief and protection against excessive charges.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe must address the crisis of skyrocketing utility costs,\u201d said McDonald. \u201cThe time is now to ensure all New Yorkers can afford the energy essential to their health and safety.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Among New Yorkers 50-plus, 84% reported increased monthly costs, with many sacrificing basic needs. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe results of AARP\u2019s utility affordability survey, while deeply troubling, are unfortunately not surprising,\u201d said State Senator Shelley Mayer.<\/p>\n<p>The survey, conducted Feb. 4\u201311, 2026, by ReconMR for AARP, involved 1,008 New Yorkers age 50 and older. Results were weighted to reflect demographic composition, with a margin of error of \u00b13.4 percentage points.<\/p>\n<ol class=\"breadcrumb\"><strong>For Related Stories:<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/wnyt.com\/tag\/utility-costs\/\" rel=\"tag nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Utility costs<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/wnyt.com\/tag\/aarp\/\" rel=\"tag nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">AARP<\/a><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ALBANY, N.Y. (WNYT)- AARP New York\u2019s survey highlights rising utility costs pushing older New Yorkers into financial distress,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":637889,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5122],"tags":[29483,5229,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,243060],"class_list":["post-637888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-aarp","tag-america","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkcity","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-utility-costs"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116186048302831827","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=637888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637888\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/637889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=637888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=637888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=637888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}