For just over a week in May, an Upper West Side institution is rolling out one of the more ambitious slates of community programming the neighborhood will see all year — and nearly every event on the schedule is either free or pay-what-you-wish. The lineup spans wellness, film, theater, gardening, fitness, book clubs, art shows, birdwatching, and a marquee evening conversation with one of the most cited researchers in his field.
It’s called Week of Wechsler, and it’s the annual showcase put on by the Wechsler Center for Modern Aging at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan. This year it runs Thursday, May 7 through Friday, May 15. The Wechsler Center is the JCC’s hub for the 60+ community, and Week of Wechsler is essentially its annual greatest-hits — a packed sample of what the Center does on any given week, condensed into nine days.
The week opens big. Thursday, May 7 kicks things off with the 10th Annual Symposium on Positive Aging (2–6:30 pm, in-person and virtual, $36/$72/$200) — a half-day deep dive that sets the tone for everything to follow.
Highlights from the rest of the week:
- Fri, May 8 — Foreign Affairs Discussion Group; a free virtual session on Advance Care Planning for Seniors; a free in-person gathering for those new to living with Parkinson’s.
- Sun, May 10 — Chess Club (pay what you wish).
- Mon, May 11 — Age-Friendly Upper West Side planning meeting; Fiction Book Club covering The Chosen by Chaim Potok ($5/$7); Engage Women’s Group monthly gathering.
- Tue, May 12 — A morning film talk on Melodrama; a free virtual “Ask the Geriatrician” with Richard Zweig, PhD; a guided Chelsea gallery tour; Rooftop Herb + Vegetable Garden Club; Nia Brain Body Fitness for Parkinson’s; an evening improv and theater showcase with reception.
- Wed, May 13 — Game Players Meet + Connect; Engage@Wechsler Lunch + Learn; Supervised Canasta; New Members Reception.
- Fri, May 15 — A virtual session on navigating health as a community; an in-person workshop on getting started with WhatsApp.
The biggest single day is Thursday, May 14, anchored by the free Wechsler Wellness Fair (10 am–2 pm). The Fair is built specifically for the 60+ community and includes free Blood Pressure, Heart Rate, and Glucose screenings provided by the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Partner organizations on hand include AARP, AbbVie, ATHELP.org, Assisted Living Locators, Community Board 7, JCC Health + Wellness, Jivan, Living Well Together, LiveOnNY, Mount Sinai, HIICAP/NYC Department for the Aging, the Office of Council Member Gale A. Brewer, TechSoup, and the Wechsler Center itself.
The Fair also features The Longevity Lab, an interactive wellness experience co-sponsored by Plant Powered Metro New York. Instead of one long lecture, it’s structured as eight back-to-back breakout sessions:
- 10:15 am — Linda Vertannes Levy on the science and art of aging well
- 10:45 am — Dr. Jessica Krant (dermatologist) on healthy skin from within
- 11:15 am — Dr. Meenakshi Budhraja (gastroenterologist) on gut health
- 11:45 am — Betty Ng (Essentrics instructor) on mobility and stretching
- 12:15 pm — Carol Espel on muscle and cardio strength
- 12:45 pm — Dr. Rachel Dolhun (neurologist) on building a better brain
- 1:15 pm — Jason Machowsky on bone strength
- 1:45 pm — Dawn Elane Reed on the power of self-massage
May 14 also brings the Modern Agers Art Show, a Memoir-Writing Workshop, a Pop-up Chorus with Ben Romano and Daniel Henkin, and a Knitting Club Sampler — all free or pay-what-you-wish. The day caps off at 7 pm with How to Die Young at a Very Old Age, a conversation with longevity researcher Dr. Nir Barzilai followed by a light reception (pay what you wish, in-person and virtual). Barzilai, who runs the Institute for Aging Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, is one of the leading voices in the longevity field — the kind of conversation you’d typically pay real money to attend.
Pre-registration is recommended for most events and required for some. The full schedule and registration can be found at www.mmjccm.org/seniors/week-of-wechsler, or email wechslercenter@mmjccm.org with any questions.
