The City of Yonkers has been selected as one of the 50 finalists of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Sixth Mayors Challenge, a competition to spur local government innovation that improves lives in cities around the world. Yonkers is among ten U.S. cities and the only city selected from New York State.
“Thank you to Bloomberg Philanthropies for seeing our vision to improve the quality of life for seniors across our city,” said Mayor Mike Spano. “We are honored to be among 50 finalists selected for the prestigious global Mayors Challenge competition. As a finalist, we will look to create a fully sustainable model for community engagement — marshaling public and private partners as well as residents and students, coupled with innovative technology and tools to enable many more to age safely and gracefully in place.”
The Sixth Mayor Challenge elevates municipalities that have proposed the boldest ideas to bolster essential municipal services. The 50 finalists, selected from more than 630 applications, hail from 33 countries and represent more than 80 million residents worldwide. In this round of the Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayors Challenge, more funding will be distributed, and more cities will be assisted than in the previous five Challenges. In January 2026, the 25 cities with the most promising ideas will each be awarded $1 million and operational assistance to bring their proposals to life.
Yonkers initially will receive $50,000 to prototype its idea, which targets the roughly 35,000 senior residents ages 65 and over. The project aims to create a sustainable model that aligns the continuous engagement of community members and community institutions at every level, the creation of a volunteer corps, fundraising, and the implementation of innovative technology and tools to connect seniors and their family members to community services.