STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — After weeks of uncertainty surrounding whether New Yorkers would receive the food assistance benefits they rely on to feed their families, those residents can now breathe a sigh of relief.
On Nov. 7, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that New York would soon begin issuing full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits for the month of November.
The benefits had been in limbo due to the since-ended federal government shutdown and the administration’s attempts to withhold food assistance, which had never been done during a previous government shutdown, despite court orders.
“After weeks of the Trump administration putting millions of New Yorkers through chaos and confusion, following guidance from USDA, I’ve directed state agencies to issue full federal SNAP benefits for November. We expect the first New Yorkers to begin having access to their benefits starting Sunday,” Hochul said at the time.
“Let me be clear, President Trump is hellbent on preventing millions of Americans from putting food on the table. He’s made decision after decision to withhold funding that feeds families, seniors and children — and continues doubling down on this cruelty by challenging the courts’ clear orders. It’s senseless and un-American and I’m working tirelessly to bring this uncertainty to an end for the nearly three million New Yorkers who rely on this program,” the governor added.
While some New Yorkers have already received their November benefits, others may still be waiting.
NYC Health + Hospitals issued an update on Saturday saying that all New Yorkers enrolled in the program are expected to receive their benefits by this week.
On Staten Island, more than 22,000 households rely on SNAP benefits to put food on the table, with some neighborhoods seeing as many as 25% of all households receiving benefits, a recent Advance/SILive.com data analysis found.
The 10304 ZIP code, which covers Clifton, Concord, Emerson Hill, Stapleton and parts of Todt Hill and Dongan Hills, has 3,978 households receiving SNAP benefits, representing 25% of all households in the ZIP code, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2023 American Community Survey 5-year estimates.
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