Government officials and Brooklyn residents on Friday rallied in Red Hook to demand a change to state and federal law to combat stolen benefits from electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards.
Congressman Dan Goldman, Assemblymember Marcela Mitaynes, Senator Andrew Goundares, Assemblymember Grace Lee, Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas, advocates and impacted New York residents said thousands of individuals have not gotten any reimbursements for stolen funds since the termination of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) reimbursement fund on Dec. 20, according to a press release.
The Red Hook Initiative, a local community-based organization, said it has filed 85 individual claims for reimbursement, totaling over $40,000 from Red Hook residents since late last year.
“As protections at the federal level have ended, those impacted by EBT theft are left with no safety net," said Red Hook Initiative Executive Director Michael Partis. "Urgent action is needed to protect critical food resources for families in need."
Of the over 465,000 SNAP reimbursement claims filed nationwide, New York accounted for 20% of those claims. According to the New York State Office of Temporary Disability Assistance, from August 2023 to December 2024, 85,000 claims were made of stolen public benefits. The total amount of stolen SNAP assistance was $65 million during the same period with nearly $40 million worth of benefits being replaced with federal dollars. This represents over 84,000 households. The number of New Yorker’s who have experienced SNAP fraud is likely higher, leaving thousands of New Yorkers to go hungry.
Over 51,000 Brooklyn residents have experienced SNAP fraud, according to Wai Yee Chan, president and chief executive officer of Homecrest Community Services.
"Preventing SNAP skimming and protecting our community’s benefits is a top priority—no one should have their assistance stolen by criminals," Chan said.
Congressman Dan Goldman, who represents parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn, said he will introduce the ‘Enhanced Cybersecurity for SNAP Act’ in the coming months. The act will require U.S. Department of Agriculture to update its cybersecurity regulations and ensure EBT cards feature anti-fraud technology.
"Each year, tens of millions of dollars in essential food benefits are stolen from New Yorkers—benefits that families rely on to put food on the table," Goldman said. "Yet House Republicans have refused to renew the only way for New Yorkers to be reimbursed for SNAP theft, leaving seniors, working families and children to go hungry."
State legislators said they would try to allocate $90 million to establish a SNAP and cash assistance fraud victims compensation fund and transition the state to the use of chip cards for public benefits to prevent this theft from occurring.
"Every week I have seniors, mothers and fathers coming into my office seeking help with food insecurity," said Assemblymember Marcela Mitaynes. "We need to transition to chip-enabled cards for SNAP benefits and provide an avenue for reimbursement for those impacted by SNAP theft; this is how we provide for the working class."
