Comptroller Lander, Older Adults, Disability Advocates Call on Adams Admin to Safeguard New Yorkers’ Social Security Benefits as Trump Dismantles SSA and Threatens Benefits

New York, NY — Today, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, older New Yorkers, and disability advocates called on the Adams Administration to protect the Social Security benefits of New Yorkers as President Trump dismantles the agency that runs the program, closes local offices, and threatens benefits for millions.  

The Trump Administration’s latest attacks on Social Security risk pushing many of New York City’s 1.3 million recipients into poverty. Joined by advocates from LiveOn, Center For Independence of the Disabled-New York, Brooklyn Center for Independence, Citymeals on Wheels, JFREJ and Caring Majority, Jewish Association serving the Aging, and Project Guardianship; Comptroller Lander called on the Adams Administration to protect New Yorkers by deploying the Public Engagement Unit (PEU), 311, and the Department for the Aging (DFTA) to provide multilingual outreach, education, and technical assistance for vulnerable New Yorkers who receive Social Security by providing real-time information about changes and help them keep their benefits.  

“The Trump Administration is threatening the Social Security benefits that over 1 million New Yorkers rely on – and City Hall must do more to protect them,” said Comptroller Brad Lander. “As Trump puts stumbling blocks in front of older adults and people with disabilities, New York City must use all its tools to provide clear, real-time information that helps people keep their benefits. Older New Yorkers won’t pardon Eric Adams if he fails them now.” 

Approximately 1.3 million New York City residents receive Social Security benefits, and over 40% of these recipients—among them some of the most vulnerable New Yorkers—use monthly payments to cover basic expenses. New bureaucratic hurdles, office closures, and denials of language access imposed by Trump’s Executive Order disproportionately impact older adults, people of color, people with disabilities, and New Yorkers with Limited English Proficiency (LEP). Older adults—19% of NYC’s population—account for 37% of LEP residents. Meanwhile, 40% of households lack reliable home or mobile broadband (18%, or 1.5 million people, lack both), disproportionately impacting Black, Latino, and older New Yorkers. Forcing New Yorkers to navigate unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles could result in vulnerable community members unjustly losing their monthly payments. 

Recent policy changes to Social Security under the Trump Administration also create barriers to receiving on-time payments. These policies make it harder to change direct deposit information and withhold entire monthly payments in the case of overpayment. Additionally, mass firings of federal staff and office closures make accessing Social Security benefits even harder. Coupled with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) move to end the Administration for Community Living, the Trump Administration will harm older adults and people with disabilities.  

As of March 27, 2025, the Social Security Administration reversed its policy on overpayments. From March 27 onwards, when Social Security overpays a benefit, 100% of monthly payments will be withheld from recipients until the overpayment amount is fully recovered, leaving recipients, many of whom use regular Social Security payments to cover monthly expenses without critical income. Under the Biden Administration, the amount withheld was capped at just 10%. Beginning April 14, 2025, Social Security recipients can no longer update their direct deposit information over the phone. New applicants to Social Security and those seeking to change their direct deposit information must either use the website’s two-factor authentication system or schedule an in-person appointment at a Social Security office.  

Additionally, HHS announced a “restructuring” that would eliminate the Administration for Community Living (ACL). ACL was established to bring together programs across HHS for older adults and people with disabilities to allow people to receive care and remain in their communities, as opposed to unnecessary and costly institutionalization.  

These policy changes serve only one purpose: to make it more difficult to access Social Security. The City and its elected leaders must act swiftly to do all they can to ensure that no one loses access to their monthly payments.  

The Office of the Comptroller and advocates called on City Hall leaders to:  

• Immediately deploy Public Engagement Unit staff to conduct outreach to impacted communities and educate them on the new policy changes. Deploy navigators at senior centers, NYCHA campuses, and libraries to assist beneficiaries. 

• Create a 311 script to ensure that New Yorkers who have questions about the new changes to Social Security are swiftly connected to the assistance they need. 

• Department for the Aging (DFTA) should immediately share information on Social Security benefit changes at senior centers, through meals programs, and host technical assistance workshops for older adults navigating the Social Security online portal.     

• City agencies include PEU, DFTA, the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA), Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD), NYC Department of Veterans Affairs (DVS), and the Office of Technology and Innovation (OTI) should collaborate to create an inclusive outreach and engagement plan, including outreach materials (graphics, videos, multilingual flyers) and ads in ethnic and community media, to ensure that the communities most vulnerable to losing payments as a result of these changes have access to multilingual resources and the digital tools necessary to preserve their benefits. 

• Direct the Law Department to explore legal challenges to Trump’s Executive Order on behalf of vulnerable New Yorkers. 

“Billionaires will never need Social Security to live on. That’s not the case for the rest of us. In NYC, over one million residents over age 65 receive Social Security. It’s terrifying to consider that our Social Security could be mishandled or misplaced. With the shocking closing of the Administration for Community Living, New York State will also lose 4.4 million home-delivered meals and 2.5 million older adult center congregate lunch meals. The administration is relentlessly undermining the income and food security of millions of older Americans. It’s a deep betrayal from our government,” said Bobbie Sackman, Campaign Leader at JFREJ/Caring Majority Rising.  

“The federal government’s attacks on social security and HHS endanger the lives of all Americans, but especially older adults,” said Jeanette Estima, Director of Policy and Advocacy at Citymeals on Wheels. “The people Citymeals serves are homebound and many are not online. Most are struggling to get by on limited fixed incomes, making impossible decisions between buying groceries or prescriptions or paying bills. Any disruption to social security or the programs they rely on like home-delivered meals would be disastrous. We need to make access to benefits and programs easier, not harder for older New Yorkers. They built this city and should be able to live with the dignity that these benefits ensure.” 

“We serve some of New York’s most overlooked residents: older adults and people with disabilities who can no longer make decisions for themselves,” said Kimberly George, President & CEO of Project Guardianship. “We rely on programs like Social Security and Medicaid to ensure their health, safety, and dignity. Stripping away essential benefits like these will make it harder than ever to serve as guardian, and elder and disability communities will pay the price.” 

“Just like for everyone else, the Trump administration’s absurd cuts will force people with disabilities to wait for hours on the phone, make unnecessary trips to understaffed offices, and arbitrarily lose benefits they’ve rightfully earned by paying into Social Security for decades,” said Evan Yankey, advocacy director of the Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled. “We deserve transparency, just rules and common sense—and these changes are the opposite of that.” 

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