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 — a crisis that could leave millions of New Yorkers struggling to put food on the table.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which benefits 42 million Americans — including 1.8 million low-income New Yorkers — is set to expire Saturday, putting families at risk of going without food. According to state statistics, most SNAP recipients are children, the elderly or people with disabilities. In Brooklyn alone, more than 700,000 residents rely on the program.
Brooklyn elected officials and service providers plan to gather Friday morning outside a Bay Ridge supermarket — in the district of the city’s lone Republican congressional member — 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.
In Washington, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer issued a statement Thursday ahead of Senator Ben Ray Luján’s motion to keep SNAP funded during what he called the “Republican shutdown.”
“Right now, we’re staring down two crises at once: a healthcare crisis and a hunger crisis,” Schumer said. “And both are caused by and intensified by one man and one man only: Donald Trump.”
Schumer criticized the president for refusing to fund SNAP during the shutdown.
“Trump is weaponizing hunger. He is using kids and parents as pawns,” Schumer said. “Donald Trump is a vindictive politician and heartless man.”
He added that “every president before him — Democrat or Republican — has used these same funds to keep families fed. Trump could fix this today with one stroke of his pen.”
In a letter issued Thursday, Congress Member Dan Goldman (NY-10) joined New York’s entire Democratic congressional delegation in urging the Trump administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to restore SNAP payments before the cutoff.
“With less than two days before benefits are halted, we urge USDA to use SNAP’s 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,” the lawmakers wrote.
The letter, co-signed by Senators Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and Reps. Hakeem Jeffries, Yvette Clarke, and Nydia Velázquez, among others, warned that failure to act would “trigger an immediate hunger crisis across the state.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state food emergency Thursday to unlock an additional $65 million in hunger funding, directing resources to food banks and local nonprofits across New York.
Advocates say the local effects will be severe.
Council Member Justin Brannan, who represents District 47, posted on X that “Over 50,000 people in my district depend on SNAP. People will go hungry because Trump Republicans control every branch of government — White House, Senate, and House — and they’d rather throw a tantrum than feed families.”
As New York braces for the freeze, food banks, pantries and community fridges 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.
Advocates warn that without immediate federal action, thousands of residents could face heightened food insecurity in the coming weeks.
“Everybody is bracing and everybody is worried,” said Soni Sangha, executive director of the Camp Friendship food pantry in Park Slope. “And rightfully so.”
