Aging In NYC: Photographer Captures Senior Life In the City

The first time I saw Yale, he was eating lunch at Hamilton House. He was sitting by himself and he kept his head down and was very focused on his food. I attempted to engage him in conversation but he only responded with a big smile and one-word answers and then went back to the business of eating his lunch. The second time I saw Yale, he noticed that I wasn't eating lunch and said, "man, aren't you going to eat?" I told him I wasn't hungry and he said: "then take it home man, you need to get your food." He said he loves Hamilton House and is there twice a day every day. He needs this place in order to eat. The third time I met Yale, I knew that if we were going to have a conversation, I needed to meet him after a meal. We sat on a bench outside Hamilton House.

Yale is 88. He was born in Los Angles to Japanese immigrant parents. Yale's parents came here before World War II. I asked him if he was in Manzanar. When I said Manzanar, his face lit up with surprise. "You know Manzanar?" He was taken to the Manzanar concentration camp with his parents and his sister when he was twelve.

Yale's family was there for four years. He didn't talk about what things were like while he was there. When his family was released, there was no home to go back to and the government did not want the Japanese people on the West Coast. They were unwelcome in California, Oregon, and even Utah. hey eventually moved to Chicago where his father secured a job as a cook. Holding up is lunch leftovers in a baggie, he said laughingly looking at the food, "my father would never eat this stuff."

Yale and his wife moved to New York many years ago because his wife wanted to be near their daughter to help take care of their grandson. They lived in Greenwich Village. His wife passed away seven years ago. I asked how often he sees his daughter and grandson. He said whenever they invite him - about once a year.

Yale's social life now consists of going to Hamilton House for meals and walking the one block back to his home.

It is interesting to me that in the little more than the year that I have been working on this project, I have randomly met four people who earlier in their lives they were forced to flee hostile governments that were persecuting them for either their race or religion. Three people were fleeing the Nazis and one interned by the American government. So, it is worth noting that survival allows you to have the freedom to get old and get out each day.

Herb Bardavid is a social worker with a passion for photography going back to his childhood years. When he was 12 years old, Bardavid commandeered his family's only bathroom to serve as a part-time dark room for developing photos.

At his wife's suggestion, the Upper West Side resident chose to chronicle the lives of New York City senior citizens for a year-long photography project. Bardavid, who's in his 70s, is inspired by New York City's elders who don't let their age get in the way of how they live their lives.
"Elderly people in New York City are sometimes invisible," Bardavid told Patch. "People walk by and nobody pays attention to them. So when I stop people they're are not only surprised but also happy because people don't often talk to them."

Check out Bardavid's blog here.

Photos by Herb Bardavid