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"Stingy City Hall" (editorial, Dec. 17) did not take into account New York City's immediate and extensive food assistance response after Hurricane Sandy, totaling more than $86 million to hundreds of thousands of individuals and families.
On top of the three million hot meals served, households receiving food stamps living in 82 affected New York City ZIP codes were given automatic replacement benefits to replace food lost because of power failures, and additional replacement money went to more than 100,000 clients who applied.
Working with our partners, the city's Human Resources Administration also expedited an additional half-million pounds of food for emergency soup kitchens and food pantries serving the affected areas. Low-income New Yorkers in need of further food assistance can apply for regular food stamps at any time, but the disaster food stamp program was appropriately aimed at the hardest-hit areas.
If the federally required face-to-face interviews were too burdensome, authorized representatives were welcomed to apply on a person's behalf, as long as the required documents and information were in order.
We are running the program in a responsible way, by getting help to people in need while also guarding against abuse of taxpayer dollars.
ROBERT DOAR
Commissioner
Human Resources Administration
New York, Dec. 18, 2012
To the Editor:
You rightly point out that the Bloomberg administration made it difficult for people affected by Hurricane Sandy to receive Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.
We, too, are concerned about the way D-SNAP was administered, and spent weeks urging the city's Human Resources Administration to carry out this vital food assistance program in a way that accommodated the needs of those most affected by the storm.
Additionally, we urged H.R.A. to request an extension from the Agriculture Department to give New Yorkers more time to apply for the program. We also called upon H.R.A. to request that additional ZIP codes be made eligible.
After the weeklong sign-up period, we saw that the program was woefully underused, as New Yorkers found it difficult to register. What good was this program if people couldn't get to the sites to apply? Why isn't the city doing more to help those who are struggling with food insecurity after the hurricane?
We never received adequate responses on these issues and remain concerned. We need to allow residents to focus on rebuilding their lives instead of worrying about putting food on the table.
CHRISTINE C. QUINN
ANNABEL PALMA
New York, Dec. 20, 2012
The writers are, respectively, the City Council speaker and chairwoman of the council's General Welfare Committee.
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