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Bronx News: SNAP Shutdown Pause and New Work Rules: What You Need to Know
SNAP Shutdown Pause and New Work Rules: What You Need to Know
A Nov. 1 pause on SNAP benefits threatens food assistance for 1.7 million New Yorkers, just as new work requirements also take effect.
This article originally appeared in The City.
By Lauren Hartley
Bronx Voice
October 29, 2025
BRONX NEWS - As the government shutdown stretches on, more than 1.7 million New York City residents who rely on SNAP benefits will not receive them as soon as Nov. 1.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), once known as food stamps, is funding sent out monthly by the federal government to low-income people to help them buy food.
Most SNAP recipients in New York State are children, elderly or disabled, according to the New York City Food Policy Center at Hunter College. And now, they are imminently at risk of losing those crucial funds — with no end to the shutdown in sight.
The Senate has voted at least a dozen times on a funding bill that could end the shutdown, to no avail. It will continue to convene this week. And a coalition of states, including New York, plan to sue the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the agency that oversees SNAP, to release funds that would keep SNAP at least partially funded through November, but it’s unclear what the outcome of that may be.
As the impasse continues, SNAP recipients face another key challenge. Nov. 1 is also the date the city’s Human Resources Administration (HRA) will be required by the federal government to implement new SNAP eligibility requirements for hundreds of thousands of recipients known as ABAWDs: able-bodied adults without dependents.
Here’s what to know about the double whammy on the horizon for New Yorkers on SNAP:
What is going to happen to SNAP benefits and when?
The USDA has announced there will be no benefits issued as of Nov. 1. It’s a somewhat delayed effect. Even though the federal government shutdown started on Oct. 1, benefits had already been approved for that month, so Nov. 1 is the first day recipients will start to feel the loss.
Not everyone will feel the loss on the first of the month. SNAP benefits are administered through scattered issuance — meaning they’re sprinkled throughout the month, mostly between the first and the 15th, to prevent grocery stores from becoming overwhelmed with SNAP customers. Each day the government shut down continues, more people will lose their benefits.
Dennis O’Neil, a retired postal worker who survives on Social Security and SNAP, is trying to stretch his benefits, given the impending shutdown. A Harlem resident, he likes shopping at the Uptown Grand Central Farmstead because for every $2 of SNAP benefits spent, customers get $2 coupons for fresh produce, up to $10 each day.
“I was stressed out for a while before I figured out how to get on top of this,” O'Neil said. “I'm poor. You got to think more about what and when and how you're going to eat than you normally would.”
O’Neil fanned a stack of coupons out in his hand while he ate a free meal at a food bank on West 116th Street.
He said the farmstead doesn't have meat or fish, so he eats “a lot of salads.” He’s been receiving SNAP for about two years.
“I'm sort of advanced — I now know what I'm doing, I've got a stockpile,” he said. ”But this won't keep up forever,” O’Neil said.
What are the new work requirements and what do I need to do to meet them?
HRA estimates 231,600 people in New York City will be affected by the new work requirements. They apply to adults between the ages of 18 and 64 who:
Do not live with a child under 14
Are not pregnant or caring for a person who cannot care for themselves
Do not have any mental or physical barriers to employment
To keep getting SNAP benefits, people who fall under the new requirements will need to prove they spend at least 80 hours every month doing one or more of the following:
Working (including “in-kind” work);
Participating in a qualifying work or training program approved by HRA;
Participating in an employment and training program for veterans operated by the Department of Labor or the Department of Veterans Affairs;
Participating in a program under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) or Trade Act, which may include job search, job readiness, occupational skills training and education activities; or
Participating in a combination of work or qualifying work programs.
Participating in a work experience activity approved by HRA or volunteering in a community service activity for a minimum number of hours per household.
If the new requirements apply to you, HRA will contact you by the preferred communication method listed in your HRA portal, which the agency started doing on Oct. 20. If you don’t receive any communication from HRA, it means the agency has not found you to be an ABAWD — again, that stands for “able-bodied adults without dependents” — and you don’t need to do anything.
HRA will also send people who receive benefits a notice with an appointment where they can work with someone in their borough who is trained to help gather paperwork or connect them with qualifying activities or employment.
December is the first month beneficiaries must show proof — paystubs, timesheets, employer letters or other documentation — that they meet the new requirements, though they will still receive benefits for a short time even if they don’t comply. Recipients are allowed up to three months of non-compliance within a 36-month period — meaning the first potential loss of benefits could come in March if they don’t comply in December, January and February.
What is the likelihood I’ll receive my SNAP benefits in November?
With each passing day, your chances of seeing benefits next month are getting worse.
Even if the government shutdown ends soon, delays in benefits are still likely in November. The process of issuing benefits usually starts the month before. Because of the shutdown, it hasn’t started for November yet, meaning once the government opens back up, people won’t automatically get their benefits.
Experts on hunger and food policy say the effect will be enormous.
“Most of them [SNAP beneficiaries] are working, they're just not making enough and come November, their food budget is gone,” said Gina Plata-Nino, the interim director for SNAP at the Food Research & Action Center, a national nonprofit that works to end hunger in America. “SNAP is supposed to be supplemental. For many families, it's not. It's their whole source of funding and they're going to have to make really incredibly tough choices — and I don't want to even call it a choice, because they don't have a choice.”
Plata-Nino added that food retailers, especially smaller ones that accept EBT — the card used to pay with SNAP benefits — will also feel the effects of the SNAP pause. The loss of SNAP dollars could ripple across local economies.
Scott French, HRA administrator, said he will be waiting for a USDA directive that tells states that they can submit their roster of November SNAP recipients. Then, EBT contractors ensure benefits are distributed on people’s cards. French added that this process can’t happen overnight because of the volume of SNAP beneficiaries.
“It'll really depend on when the shutdown ends and how that fits on a calendar as to when that would be — because obviously we would want to take action to get the November benefits to people as soon as possible given the delays that they would've experienced,” French said.
What can I do if I don’t receive my SNAP benefits in November?
If you need help finding meals in New York City, check out these guides and maps from local food access organizations that keep track of food pantries, soup kitchens and more:
Free food map from Food Help, run by the city government
You can also apply for cash assistance, which is still available during the shutdown, and which is determined on a case-to-case basis. Cash assistance, while federally funded, is provided to states in block grants, which is why it can still be administered during the shutdown.
Can food pantries make up the difference?
No, food assistance experts told THE CITY. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t seek help locally.
Nicole Hunt, director at Food Bank NYC, said she’s seen an increase in people seeking food assistance since the shutdown, particularly among federal workers, some of whom have missed more than one paycheck at this point. She said many SNAP beneficiaries already eat meals at food banks, but she is expecting to see an uptick in November when they miss benefits.
“People get SNAP benefits, but for a lot of them, that doesn't take them all the way through the month already,” Hunt said. “Nothing can prepare us for 1.7 million people losing SNAP. That's not a scale that the food-assistance network can grow to accommodate.”
Dr. Melony Samuels, founder of The Campaign Against Hunger advised to “go to your nearest anti-hunger organization.”
“We don't want you to stay at home and be anxious or worried … The Campaign Against Hunger is always in a position to help families,” she said. “We stretch our budget, the best way we know because we understand the community we serve, so they can come alongside as much as they want.”
Can I still use my SNAP benefits in November?
Yes. Your SNAP benefits will not expire and your EBT card will still work during the shutdown. If you don’t use your benefits all in a month, they will rollover to the next month.
Will the special supplemental nutritional program for women, infants and children (WIC) be impacted at all?
The answer right now is no. The New York State Department of Health has said the government shutdown will not impact WIC in New York State — yet guidance is subject to change.
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