A coalition of nonprofits and private industry groups will band together to boost funding for New York City’s food banks and pantries as 1.8 million residents of the five boroughs see their SNAP benefits run dry due to the ongoing government shutdown, the city announced.
Mayor Eric Adams’ office said that his administration will partner with the New York Community Trust, Partnership for New York City and United Way of New York as well as with local businesses and philanthropic groups to provide emergency fundings for food distribution centers in the five boroughs.
“When New Yorkers support one another in times of need, we become a better city,” Adams said.
“That’s why today, along with the New York Community Trust, the United Way, and the Partnership for New York City, we’re launching a slate of public-private initiatives to support SNAP recipients in our city who rely on these much-needed benefits to put food on their tables.”
The US Department of Agriculture planned to freeze payments to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program starting Sunday because it said it could no longer keep funding it due to the shutdown.
The program serves about 1 in 8 Americans and is a major piece of the nation’s social safety net. It costs about $8 billion per month nationally.
Two federal judges on Friday ruled that the Trump administration must continue to pay for SNAP using emergency reserve funds during the government shutdown.
President Trump has blamed congressional Democrats for the shutdown, suggesting that the government would comply with the rulings but also that it needed more clarity first.
“If we are given the appropriate legal direction by the Court, it will BE MY HONOR to provide the funding,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account on Friday.
The judges in Massachusetts and Rhode Island gave the administration leeway on whether to fund the program partially or in full for November.
That also brings uncertainty about how things will unfold and will delay payments for many beneficiaries whose cards would normally be recharged early in the month.
Adams said that while “we sadly can never provide as much support as our federal partners, our social services agencies are ready to help New Yorkers in need, and we’re calling on business leaders, philanthropic partners, faith leaders, and community members to join us in this effort.”
Kathryn Wylde, president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City, the nonprofit that represents more than 300 local businesses, said that “local government and philanthropy cannot come close to replacing federally funded entitlement programs, but we can certainly help support the organizations that are collecting and distributing food during this emergency.”
With Post Wires
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