Food pantry visits surge in NYC as 'perfect storm' over benefit delays and inflation aligns
Lines for hot meals and free groceries are growing longer, New York City nonprofits say, citing a surge in recent months reminiscent of the worst days of the pandemic when crowds wrapped around the block.says they’ve served 53% more meals to New Yorkers in the first nine months of 2023, compared to the same time the year prior. Meanwhile, therecord backlog at a city agency
“It's absolutely unacceptable that the processing rates are lower than they've been under a number of previous mayors,” said Joel Berg, CEO ofBut some residents lined up as early as 6 a.m.Di Caterina said he thought demand would let up after the pandemic, but the extra $95 a month in food stamp benefits from the federal government that ended in February, along with rising food costs is exacerbating the demand.
“Before COVID, we will serve 90% of Hispanic families. Right now, you can see the diversity. We have Asians, we have people from India, Bangladesh, South America, Central America,” he said. “Delays in processing cause catastrophic results because they don't have an option that fills in the gap while these things are processing,” said Whitney Coulson, a program director at, a social service provider in the Lower East Side. The agency runs a small food pantry through its mental health program that normally serves 250 residents and now serves another 100.
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