The federal government shutdown doesn’t affect certain services: The U.S. Postal Service, which is self-funded, will still deliver mail. Social security and Medicare benefits will continue. And many essential employees, from active military to air traffic controllers and TSA agents, will stay on the job — without pay.

Still, local elected officials issued warnings Wednesday.

“The consequences of this shutdown are devastating,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said at a news conference Wednesday morning.

What You Need To Know

The federal government shutdown won’t affect services like mail delivery, Social Security and Medicare benefits and air traffic control

The shutdown will likely disrupt food benefits and force the closure of the Statue of Liberty, which Gov. Hochul says she won’t keep open with state funding as Gov. Cuomo did in 2018

115,000 federal workers across New York state will be without a paycheck

The shutdown is expected to disrupt food benefits known as SNAP, or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and a separate program known as WIC, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.

“One in 10 people in our state will now struggle putting food on their tables,” Hochul said. “442,000 women and children who depend on WIC could see their benefits cut.”

Hochul held her news conference in view of the Statue of Liberty, which is operated by the National Park Service. It remained open to visitors Wednesday, but Hochul warned the landmark could soon go dark.

She has no plan to keep the Statue of Liberty open using state funding, as then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo did in 2018.

“We want to keep tourism flowing, we want people coming, and we don’t want any disruption,” Cuomo said then.

Information on closures was hard to come by Wednesday, even on government websites. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development site declared “the radical left in Congress shut down the government,” but provided little other information.

Federal courts remained open Wednesday, as did passport services. But many of the 115,000 federal employees in New York state will be furloughed, with some notable exceptions.

“Most law enforcement gets deemed essential,” said Jackie Bray, state commissioner of Homeland Security and Emergency Services.

She noted officers at agencies like ICE and the FBI will continue working without pay, but will be without critical support staff. She pointed to her own experience working at the National Weather Service during the last shutdown.

“Our meteorologists were essential, right?” she said. “But the IT staff that fixed our computer systems and made sure our radars were working were non-essential. We could limp by for a couple weeks. You get into the third and fourth week, and stuff really starts breaking. That’s going to be true in Homeland Security as well.”