Lifestyle

We’re over 70 — and still love our jobs

Reflecting on her more than 75 years in show business, 95-year-old comedienne and actress Betty White declared that one of the secrets to her long and vibrant life is her storied career.

“The fact that I’m still working — that’s the thing I’m most grateful for,” the “Golden Girls” star told Yahoo global news anchor Katie Couric in January.

Experts agree that holding down a job keeps many older adults mentally and physically agile.

“Working aids longevity,” says Carla Perissinotto, associate professor and geriatrician at the University of California San Francisco. “We know that socializing — whatever that means to a person — is very protective of health, especially cognition and memory.

“It’s this idea of still having a sense of community, purpose and engagement, whether a job is paid or a volunteer position.”

Like White, these five New Yorkers are over 70 and still working and thriving.

Judge Bentley Kassal

Tamara Beckwith

When you’re 99 years old — and are celebrating your 100th birthday on Tuesday — you’d be forgiven for not working the standard 40-hour week, let alone putting in overtime.

But Judge Bentley Kassal, who now works at international law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, regularly burns the midnight oil and works on weekends.

“I love the law and I love the challenge,” says the irrepressible World War II veteran, a retired Democratic New York state assemblyman who was a judge at every level of the New York state courts system over a 35-year period.

These days at Skadden, he is an arbitrator and mediator, advising attorneys on arguments, appeals and future career moves while reviewing and revising briefs.

“I keep my mind active,” says Kassal, who was born in Harlem in 1917.

As time goes by, the married Upper West Sider feels increasingly saddened when reading obituaries of his peers. But they’re also a wake-up call.

“They make me take a quick inventory of my life and say: ‘OK, Kassal, has your life been a good one? Have you made a contribution?’ ”

He certainly doesn’t have to look far for the answer. Among hundreds of other achievements, he introduced and helped enact the first law in the US that codified the New York Arts Council in 1960 and was awarded the French Legion of Honor in 2009 for his four years’ service as one of the highest-ranking intelligence officers in WWII.

Speaking from his office, which is adorned with photos of himself with the likes of John F. Kennedy Jr., he says: “I’m looking forward to what the next few years hold for me, and hope I’ll continue to make more contributions.”

Constantine Paspalas

Stefano Giovannini

Working in a Murray Hill building packed with millennials “keeps me young,” says 79-year-old Manhattan doorman Constantine Paspalas.

The divorced dad of two gets the early morning bus into Penn Station five days a week from his home in Hamilton, NJ, to start his workday at 6:30 a.m. It ends at 2:30 p.m.

“The apartment building is full of young people and I think their youthful outlook reflects on me,” says Paspalas of the 300-unit tower on 33rd Street where he has worked for 19 years. The residents affectionately call him Gus because they can’t pronounce Constantine. He doesn’t mind. “I go along with the crowd,” he says, with a laugh.

Rose Harrison

Tamara Beckwith

Retirement doesn’t suit Rose Harrison, who tried to stop working in 1992 and didn’t enjoy it.

“I felt like there was nothing out there for me,” says the 89-year-old divorcée who has worked in education for decades, starting in 1958 with a 42-strong classroom of second-graders. “And then my friends and my doctors suggested I go back to work.”

It’s absolutely enlivened me and keeps my neurons firing.

She came out of retirement in 1997, taking a job at Hunter College. Five years later, she started teaching at Pace University, where she’s now an adjunct professor who instructs undergraduate and graduate student teachers in educational psychology and early literacy.

“It’s absolutely enlivened me and keeps my neurons firing,” says Harrison, who lives near Lincoln Center and commutes to work downtown via subway. “There’s no time to relax and I feel smarter now than I’ve ever been.”

Judy Uman

Stephen Yang

Working full time can sometimes keep Judy Uman from seeing her five grandchildren as much as she’d like, but she’s otherwise delighted to be so involved in her job.

The 78-year-old director of social services for the nonprofit Bronx Jewish Community Council has worked for the organization for 31 years and shows no sign of slowing down.

“I make sure I keep at the top of my game,” says Uman, who commutes to the borough from her home in Irvington, NY, and primarily works with elderly clients. “You’re always thinking how to make things better for people.”

She has no plans for retirement and will continue to work as long as she can.

“You can sit back and read the newspaper and witness what’s happening in the world from a distance,” she says. “Or you can really have an impact on someone’s life.”

Abby Popper

Stefano Giovannini

At 79, Abby Popper is clearly decades older than most of her colleagues at the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville, NY, but she has no intention of leaving anytime soon.

“People ask, ‘When are you going to retire?’ I think it’s because they want my job,” she says, with a laugh.

The mother of three grown children, Popper took a job at the film center in 2001. It was a second career of sorts, after 20 years of working in Westchester County government in marketing and public relations.

People ask, ‘When are you going to retire?’ I think it’s because they want my job.

Now, as a consultant for Jacob Burns, she uses her p.r. skills to promote speaking events, receptions and photography exhibits.

“I absolutely lucked out with this job,” says Popper, who lives in Rye, NY, and studied business at NYU. “It’s a plum thing.”

Sure, while her friends are sunbathing in Florida, Popper’s driving 25 minutes each way to work, some nights returning home after 11 p.m.

But she’s not complaining. “I do go to Florida, but not terribly often,” she says. “It’s too fun up here, with all our speakers, celebrities and special events.”