As a result of changes in how long-term care is funded under Governor Cuomo’s Medicaid reform, adult daycare centers can be found all over New York, especially in immigrant communities. According to an attorney who practices elder law, more than 100 centers have sprung up in the Chinese community, possibly to take advantage of the Medicaid money that is available.

Long-established centers complain that the new daycares are paying seniors or family members $100 in cash to come. Making payoffs seems to be a trend among the new facilities: four adult daycares have been charged with making payoffs to Bronx Assemblyman Stevenson to limit or prohibit any new adult daycares in New York City.

In addition to their alleged financial irregularities, adult daycare centers are being scrutinized for the quality of care. Although these centers are primarily social and not medical, some wonder whether they are being operated to benefit elderly clients, or whether those who have been enticed to attend really need that level of service.

There are few rules about such centers, so it would be difficult to charge them with medical malpractice. The state does issue guidelines, but there is no review to see whether the centers are actually following those guidelines.

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According to Citi Bike, there have been about 100 accidents involving the blue rental bikes, with about one quarter of them requiring a trip to an emergency room. In short, the bike share program has not boosted traffic fatality stats as once feared. And this remarkable safety record is not unique to New York City.

A piece in the Washington Post speculated that more bikes on the streets of Washington, D.C., might actually make streets safer and prevent bicycle accidents. The presence of bicycles forces motorists to drive more carefully.

Bicycle fatalities in New York have remained relatively constant in the past 20 years, with between twenty and thirty people each year dying as a result of bicycle accidents. However, injuries from bike accidents have declined, probably because more riders wear helmets. 

The good news about the shared bike program in New York City could change. Bicycle riders and drivers of motor vehicles could become more careless. Maintenance issues with Citi Bike could make the brental bikes less safe.  But for now, New York City is and increasingly bike-friendly place, one that is apparently safer than predicted. 

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