{"id":25441,"date":"2025-11-01T22:05:25","date_gmt":"2025-11-01T22:05:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/25441\/"},"modified":"2025-11-01T22:05:25","modified_gmt":"2025-11-01T22:05:25","slug":"panic-in-nyc-as-snap-benefits-dry-up-and-gov-shutdown-extends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/25441\/","title":{"rendered":"Panic in NYC as SNAP benefits dry up and gov shutdown extends"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Yorkers panicked Saturday as their SNAP benefits officially ran out \u2014 making the prospect of going hungry very real for millions, as the government shutdown approached its second month. <\/a><\/p>\n

Cash-strapped shoppers tried to stretch their dough as best they could as they faced the reality of shopping <\/a>without government assistance, after\u00a0Senate Democrats blocked a government funding bill 13 times in six weeks<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 keeping the critical food program offline.<\/p>\n

\u201cSNAP is the backbone of the urban bread basket.\u00a0When you choke that, you choke everything, everybody,\u201d Shamika Hough told The Post as he shopped for his family at \u00a0E & Y Deli in the Bronx Saturday morning.<\/p>\n

SNAP benefits were set to expire on Saturday amid the government shutdown. TOMAS E. GASTON<\/p>\n

Sausages and orange juice at the supermarket cost him $28 \u2014 a hardship since the personal care assistant was already stretching a $500 monthly allowance to cover his family of four and their dog, saying he could usually only make it last three weeks.<\/p>\n

Hough, 41, was hoping the benefits would roll in for the month, but his balance read zero when he checked it that morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to the pantry on Wednesday.\u00a0 I went there last week. I get up at 5 a.m. to get a spot and then my wife comes and I get to go to work. The line is long. It\u2019s around the corner,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t waste anything.\u00a0Canned foods go a long way.\u00a0My wife rations the food \u2013 she cooks for several days at a time and this was\u00a0before they cut SNAP, so it really helps.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, previously known as food stamps, was expected to run out of funding this weekend amid the ongoing government shutdown \u2014 leaving an estimated 42 million people across the US, 3 million in New York , and at least 1.75 million in Gotham wondering how they will pay for their next meal.<\/p>\n

On Friday, federal judges in both Rhode Island and Massachusetts issued temporary orders ruling that the Trump administration must continue administering benefits, with Boston\u2019s US District Judge Indira Talwani calling the suspension \u201cunlawful.\u201d<\/p>\n

The administration said it didn\u2019t want to tap the fund for about $5 billion for the program, but Democratic officials are claiming that it must be used during the shutdown.<\/p>\n

SNAP benefits about 42 million people across the US. AP<\/p>\n

Many food pantries across the Big Apple are expanding their service to accomodate SNAP users. TOMAS E. GASTON<\/p>\n

The Trump administration did not immediately reveal whether it would appeal the two orders. Both judges asked for progress reports by Monday.<\/p>\n

The President posted Friday night following the dueling court rulings that he had instructed his lawyers to ask \u201chow we can legally fund SNAP as soon as possible,\u201d saying it would be an \u201chonor to provide the funding.\u201d <\/p>\n

Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a \u201cfood emergency\u201d across the state<\/a> Thursday and funneled $65 million for food pantries, soup kitchens and other emergency food providers that needy New Yorkers will be forced to turn to during the absence of SNAP.<\/p>\n

\tHere’s what we know about the government shutdown<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Trump administration<\/a>\u00a0revealed in a court filing that more than 4,000 federal workers were fired on October 10 as a result of the ongoing partial government shutdown.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The bulk of the layoffs took place at the Treasury Department and the Department of Health and Human Services, where approximately 1,446 and up to 1,200 employees, respectively, were fired, according to reports.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Airports across the country<\/a> have\u00a0experienced delays\u00a0this week because of a shortage of controllers.<\/p>\n

President Trump said on October 11 that he would use his authority as commander in chief to pay military troops\u00a0despite the government shutdown<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The shutdown\u00a0began on Oct. 1<\/a>\u00a0after Democrats rejected a short-term funding fix and demanded that the bill include an extension of\u00a0federal subsidies for health insurance\u00a0under the Affordable Care Act.<\/p>\n

\u201cSquad\u201d Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Saturday launched a fundraiser to benefit the Elmcor, RAP4Bronx and City Harvest food pantries, which announced they would be increasing their capacity to accommodate SNAP beneficiaries.<\/p>\n

Tatiana Harris, 38, was on her way to a food distribution truck on Saturday because her $298 in monthly SNAP benefits were never delivered.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have any food in my house at all. I have a dog and I have no idea what I\u2019m going to do if I have no food for him,\u201d Harris, 38, who is unemployed and HIV-positive, said, adding that because of the weekend, she has no one at the benefits center she could call for help. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have any food in my house at all,\u201d said Tatiana Harris. ALLISON DINNER\/EPA\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m waiting until Monday to see what happens. I am hoping something happens.\u00a0This cannot continue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Laura Diaz, 45, was left wondering how she would get her 5-year-old son through the winter without their SNAP benefits as she shopped in Antillana Superfood Marketplace in the Bronx. <\/p>\n

The pair receives $180 per month, which she sometimes uses to supplement their rent and other bills.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a growing son. I have to feed him. Right now, I\u2019ll go without to make sure he eats,\u201d said Diaz, who cleans houses for a living.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to reduce what I give him for lunch or I will have to work more hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

The SNAP crisis was sparked after Democrats refused to drop their demands to extend\u00a0ObamaCare subsidies\u00a0<\/a>due to expire at the end of this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cDemocrats have instigated a disgusting dereliction of duty unlike anything I have seen in all my years doing this work,\u201d Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Friday at a Capitol Hill press conference with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe, the poor people, are suffering the consequences.\u00a0They are living their same lives but us \u2014 the poor people \u2014 our lives have been disrupted,\u201d said Diaz, who cleans houses for a living and blamed both Dems and GOPers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think about the people who can\u2019t work.\u00a0What are they going to do?\u201d<\/p>\n

One senior citizen, who declined to share her name, indicated she only had enough savings to get through November without government assistance. <\/p>\n

\u201cMe getting mad makes it worse. I\u2019m disappointed but I have to keep a positive attitude or I\u2019ll crash out and lose my mind,\u201d the woman, 66, said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe definitely need it and what they are doing is wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New Yorkers panicked Saturday as their SNAP benefits officially ran out \u2014 making the prospect of going hungry…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25442,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,9235,2564,57,9,24,63,129,131,130,58],"class_list":{"0":"post-25441","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-the-bronx","8":"tag-bronx","9":"tag-food-stamps","10":"tag-government-shutdown","11":"tag-metro","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-city","14":"tag-nyc","15":"tag-the-bronx","16":"tag-the-bronx-headlines","17":"tag-the-bronx-news","18":"tag-us-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25441","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=25441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25441\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}