(DNAINFO)  Amy Zimmer | March 8, 2016 — Laws on the city’s “Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities” aren’t keeping pace with seniors’ needs.

Sue Deutsch, a widow from Milwaukee, retired from social work, debated whether to move to Santa Cruz or New York City — both places where her children and grandchildren lived.

She ended up on the Lower East Side, in large part, because of the amenities and activities within walking distance for seniors.

“My daughter-in-law told me to visit the senior center. I thought it to be a very friendly place,” said Deutsch, 80, who bought a one-bedroom at one of the boxy brick co-ops on Grand Streetthat is part of the Co-op Village NORC, or Naturally Occurring Retirement Community.

But NORC programs like hers — which are established when an area has a significant population of seniors over 60 — are struggling to meet increased demand as their populations explode even as city and state funding has remained stagnant.

State funding for NORCs has been essentially frozen at $4.2 million for the past 10 years, even as the population of seniors has skyrocketed.

Source: City’s Senior Citizen Enclaves Are in Danger, Advocates Say – Lower East Side – DNAinfo.com New York