Corner stores fear lost sales as federal work rules cut 26,500 New Yorkers from SNAP
Benefit purchases can make up a large share of a corner store's sales. A Bronx bodega owner says she would have to close without EBT customers.
Federal work requirements in H.R. 1, the tax and spending package, have cut roughly 26,500 New York City residents off SNAP food aid. Corner store owners in neighborhoods where many shoppers pay with benefits worry their sales will drop. For many of the affected households, about $200 a month in grocery money is gone.
Benefit purchases typically account for 15% to 20% of a bodega’s sales, according to Francisco Marte, who founded and leads the Bodega and Small Business Group. He said the share at a given store rises or falls with the number of SNAP households living nearby.
A Tremont store that leans on EBT
On the Grand Concourse in Tremont, where bodegas outnumber supermarkets, Yomary Pichardo said SNAP brings in as much as 30% of her store’s revenue. About 44% of people in the area receive the benefit, city data shows.
The full hit has not reached her store yet, Pichardo said, but she expects fewer customers paying with EBT cards. “If I didn’t accept EBT, I’d be forced to close the store,” she said.
Citywide, the Bronx leads with 33% of residents on SNAP. Brooklyn is next at 22%, Queens and Staten Island sit at about 14% each, and Manhattan is at 13%. Of the closed cases, Brooklyn residents accounted for 40% and Bronx residents for 26%, the Department of Social Services said. Single adults 18 to 35 were slightly more than half of the closures, and nearly 6 in 10 involved men.
SNAP work requirements: who can reapply
The rules took effect March 1. Certain recipients ages 18 to 64 had three months to comply, and some began losing benefits in June. Since Oct. 1, people who were cut off can apply again.
Because of its high unemployment, the Bronx is exempt from the new Medicaid work rules. A spokesperson for the state Department of Health said that exemption does not extend to SNAP, which runs under separate rules. The federal law also moves more of the cost of running SNAP onto state and local governments. About 1.8 million New York City residents rely on the program.
Quick answers
Can New Yorkers who lost SNAP reapply?
Yes. As of Oct. 1, people who lost benefits under the work requirements can apply again.
Who is covered by the SNAP work requirements?
Certain SNAP recipients ages 18 to 64. The rules took effect March 1 and gave them three months to comply.
Does the Bronx Medicaid exemption apply to SNAP?
No. A state Department of Health spokesperson said SNAP runs under separate rules, so the exemption does not cover it.
