The city is closing a Bronx public benefits office and relocating some services five miles away, even as processing times for food stamp and cash assistance applications continue to face unprecedented delays.
The Human Resources Administration center in Mount Eden operates an office to process benefits and applications for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which helps residents afford groceries. The office will shutter on Friday, while another department within the HRA office that processes cash assistance and other benefits will move its operations to another center in Hunts Point in the eastern Bronx, according to a listing on the administration’s website and an email sent to providers.
Social service nonprofits that help residents apply for the benefits say the move is part of a pattern of closures and relocations that started in 2019 under the de Blasio administration and has continued under Mayor Eric Adams. The relocation will leave the Bronx, which has the state’s highest rate of unemployment, with seven SNAP or other benefit locations, according to the city.
The changes also come as the city processes cash assistance and SNAP benefits at a record-low place, according to official data. Just 14% of cash assistance applications were reviewed within the required 30 days over a few months last year. And 41% of SNAP applications were processed within a month’s time as required, according to preliminary data from the Mayor’s Management Report. The city says it’s made progress on SNAP cases and nearly eliminated the backlog, according to HRA officials.
Providers argue the plan is unfair to low-income New Yorkers, especially those who have mobility issues, lack reliable internet access or have a problem with their case.
“Some folks are needing these [in-person] services because they don’t have cash assistance to pay for a MetroCard,” said Adriana Mendoza, a benefits supervisor for the Safety Net Project, which is part of the nonprofit Urban…
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