Hochul, Schumer, Gillibrand, Sharpton: SNAP food emergency in New York

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEXSTAR) — On Thursday morning in East Harlem, Governor Kathy Hochul announced $65 million to offset the impending loss of $650 million per month in federal food assistance. She also declared a statewide food emergency just two days before the scheduled cutoff of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

“We’re not going to be passive observers of this,” Hochul said, blaming the Trump administration for the ongoing federal government shutdown and for refusing to release contingency funding. “I want to unleash every tool at our disposal to keep New Yorkers from going hungry.”

Forty million dollars goes to the Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program, which supports about 2,700 emergency food providers across the state. Twenty five million will fund Nourish NY, which buys surplus agricultural products like milk, apples, and cheese from farms upstate for food relief organizations.

Hochul’s Deputy Secretary for Human Services and Mental Hygiene, Peter Hatch, explained that declaring the “state of emergency unlocks the state’s ability to move much faster to deploy those dollars out statewide.” Beyond funding, the state is also deploying members of the Empire State Service Corps and SUNY Civic Engagement Corps—college students—to help with the surge in demand at short-staffed food banks and pantries.

The $65 follows $41 million in funds already fast-tracked by the state, bringing the allocation so far to $106 million to support food programs in the past week. The money doesn’t go directly onto EBT cards, but nonetheless is supposed to provide more than 56 million meals, stocking food pantries and distribution centers for nearly 3 million New Yorkers on food stamps, including 1 million kids and 800,000 seniors.

Even so, the governor acknowledged that the money is only a fraction of the actual monthly shortfall. She argued that no state can fully cover the gap and that the pressure needs to be on Washington.

But advocacy groups like the Legal Aid Society challenged the claim that states can’t pay for the benefits outright, calling on Albany to allocate $650 million to fund November’s SNAP in New York. Virginia, Delaware, and New Mexico have already committed funds to pay for SNAP. The groups argued that relying on charitable food funds won’t reach the 3 million New Yorkers who receive benefits via bodegas and grocery stores.

“While we appreciate the governor’s support for more charitable food, that only addresses a tiny portion of the need,” read a statement from Hunger Free America, Citizen Action of NY, and VOCAL-NY.

“It’s immoral for the government, the federal government of the most prosperous, wealthy nation on this earth, to allow children to go hungry,” Hochul said. To Washington Republicans, she added: “Get back to work, restore the health care premiums, turn the federal government back on, and start feeding hungry Americans once again.”

Joining the governor in East Harlem, the Reverend Al Sharpton agreed that the cutoff represents a moral issue, not a political one. Drawing on his experience growing up on welfare, Sharpton said, “There is no joy in standing in line to get food. There’s nothing to be proud of, to say your family has a problem. So don’t denigrate those that we’ve not uplifted.”

Simultaneously with Hochul’s announcement, U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, both of New York, held a virtual press conference to demand SNAP money without delay. Schumer called the situation a “cynical, manufactured hunger crisis” caused by Trump’s refusal to fund SNAP for the first time in history. He accused the president of using innocent people as hostages out of vindictiveness.

Gillibrand argued that SNAP is a lifeline for too many New Yorkers to shut down, noting that two-thirds of recipients are children, seniors, or people with disabilities. Both senators pushed the Keep SNAP and WIC Funded Act of 2025, legislation that would continue uninterrupted benefits during the shutdown. The bill requires the federal government to reimburse states for the cost of benefits issued during a lapse in appropriations.

Schumer pointed the finger at Republican leadership refusing to vote on the bill, which “will pass in a minute” if put on the floor, he said. The Senate Minority Leader said Majority Leadership won’t even consider a conservative version to restore SNAP from Republican U.S. Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri. Gillibrand added that the Democratic version has additional provisions to fund aid in Puerto Rico.

The current funding crisis is, according to Democrats, part of a larger, deliberate attack on food assistance programs. Gillibrand said the feds already slashed some $186 billion from SNAP program earlier this year under the One Big Beautiful Bill and that the Trump administration was looking for an excuse to cut it further. Schumer framed the current moves as doubling down on the previous cuts, “All to pay for taxpayer tax breaks for billionaires.”

Schumer, Gillibrand, and Hochul all offered criticism for New York’s seven House Republicans—Congressmembers Andrew Garbarbino, Nick Lalota, Nick Langworthy, Mike Lawler, Nicole Malliotakis, Elise Stefanik, and Claudia Tenney. All three also offered similar reminders about incoming cuts to federal health insurance.

The nutrition incentive program Double Up Food Bucks NY, is still available for SNAP shoppers through November. DUFBNY automatically matches dollar-for-dollar on SNAP purchases of fresh produce. Existing Double Up funds like tokens or electronic balances can still be used even if your EBT balance is zero. Double Up paper coupons used at grocery stores expire six weeks from the date of issue, so make sure they don’t expire.