{"id":24171,"date":"2025-10-31T15:14:15","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T15:14:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/24171\/"},"modified":"2025-10-31T15:14:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T15:14:15","slug":"lawmakers-sound-the-alarm-as-snap-benefits-set-to-expire-putting-700000-brooklynites-at-risk-brooklyn-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/24171\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawmakers sound the alarm as SNAP benefits set to expire, putting 700,000 Brooklynites at risk \u2022 Brooklyn Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"SNAPCrisis_102925-7\"\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Brooklyn residents line up at CHiPS food pantry as the SNAP benefits freeze set for Nov. 1 threatens to leave hundreds of thousands without food assistance.<\/p>\n

Photo by Gabriele Holtermann<\/p>\n

Local and state lawmakers are raising alarms as the government shutdown enters its 31st day, leaving vital food-assistance benefits set to expire Nov. 1 \u2014 a crisis that could leave millions of New Yorkers struggling to put food on the table.<\/p>\n

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which benefits 42 million Americans \u2014 including 1.8 million low-income New Yorkers \u2014 is set to expire Saturday, putting families at risk of going without food. According to state statistics<\/a>, most SNAP recipients are children, the elderly or people with disabilities. In Brooklyn alone, more than 700,000 residents rely on the program.<\/p>\n

Brooklyn elected officials and service providers plan to gather Friday morning outside a Bay Ridge supermarket \u2014 in the district of the city\u2019s lone Republican congressional member<\/a> \u2014 to demand that Congress reopen the federal government and fund SNAP. Attendees will include State Sen. Andrew Gounardes, Comptroller Brad Lander, Borough President Antonio Reynoso, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, and members of local organizations addressing food insecurity.<\/p>\n

In Washington, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer issued a statement Thursday ahead of Senator Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n\u2019s motion to keep SNAP funded during what he called the \u201cRepublican shutdown.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, we\u2019re staring down two crises at once: a healthcare crisis and a hunger crisis,\u201d Schumer said. \u201cAnd both are caused by and intensified by one man and one man only: Donald Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schumer criticized the president for refusing to fund SNAP during the shutdown.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cTrump is weaponizing hunger. He is using kids and parents as pawns,\u201d Schumer said. \u201cDonald Trump is a vindictive politician and heartless man.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

He added that \u201cevery president before him \u2014 Democrat or Republican \u2014 has used these same funds to keep families fed. Trump could fix this today with one stroke of his pen.\u201d
\n\"\"Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer warns that the SNAP benefits freeze amid the government shutdown could trigger a hunger crisis for millions, including 1.8 million low-income New Yorkers.Photo by Anna Moneymaker\/Getty Images\n<\/p>\n

In a letter<\/a> issued Thursday, Congress Member Dan Goldman (NY-10) joined New York\u2019s entire Democratic congressional delegation in urging the Trump administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to restore SNAP payments before the cutoff.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith less than two days before benefits are halted, we urge USDA to use SNAP\u2019s available contingency funds to pay out November benefits, which would cover more than two-thirds of all benefits. USDA can then use its transfer authority, as it did for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), to cover the remaining gap and ensure benefits remain uninterrupted,\u201d the lawmakers wrote.<\/p>\n

The letter, co-signed by Senators Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and Reps. Hakeem Jeffries, Yvette Clarke, and Nydia Vel\u00e1zquez, among others, warned that failure to act would \u201ctrigger an immediate hunger crisis across the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state food emergency Thursday to unlock an additional $65 million<\/a> in hunger funding, directing resources to food banks and local nonprofits across New York.<\/p>\n

Advocates say the local effects will be severe.\n<\/p>\n

Council Member Justin Brannan, who represents District 47, posted on X<\/a>\u00a0that \u201cOver 50,000 people in my district depend on SNAP. People will go hungry because Trump Republicans control every branch of government \u2014 White House, Senate, and House \u2014 and they\u2019d rather throw a tantrum than feed families.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Lawmakers and advocates are urging the federal government to restore funding, while local nonprofits and community fridges ramp up distributions to meet rising demand.Photo by Gabriele Holtermann<\/p>\n

As New York braces for the freeze, food banks, pantries and community fridges<\/a> across Brooklyn are preparing for a surge in demand, with many already operating at or near capacity. Nonprofits like Camp Friendship, CHiPS, and Masbia are expanding distributions and coordinating with partners to ensure families can still access fresh and nutritious food.<\/p>\n

Advocates warn that without immediate federal action, thousands of residents could face heightened food insecurity in the coming weeks.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody is bracing and everybody is worried,\u201d said Soni Sangha, executive director of the Camp Friendship food pantry in Park Slope. \u201cAnd rightfully so.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brooklyn residents line up at CHiPS food pantry as the SNAP benefits freeze set for Nov. 1 threatens…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24172,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[5316,2898,8069,98,100,15573,99,15574,15575,15576,2065,5320,15577,6420,9235,2564,8073,426,15578,9,24,15579,370,15580,63,1260,12825,15581,655],"class_list":["post-24171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-andrew-gounardes","tag-antonio-reynoso","tag-brad-lander","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-hunger-crisis","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-brooklyn-poverty","tag-brooklyn-snap-recipients","tag-brooklyn-families","tag-chuck-schumer","tag-dan-goldman","tag-federal-snap-program","tag-food-insecurity","tag-food-stamps","tag-government-shutdown","tag-jumaane-williams","tag-kathy-hochul","tag-low-income-families","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-food-assistance","tag-newsletter","tag-nutrition-assistance","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-politics","tag-snap-benefits","tag-snap-funding-cutoff","tag-trump-administration"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24171"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24171\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}