At the Salvation Army in Astoria, Major Philip Wittenberg says fear from families shows up who suddenly don’t know how they’re going to buy food.

“The fear, the palpable fear right now with SNAP, is the worst we’ve seen,” he said.

What You Need To Know

  • New York state Attorney General Letitia James won an emergency court order blocking the Trump administration from forcing states to take back benefits already issued

  • Food pantries have seen an increase in clients due to the funding fight

  • James says if a business doesn’t accept an EBT card with benefits on it to contact her office and file a complaint

Wittenberg has served with the organization for 40 years, but says he’s never seen anxiety like this.

“We’ve increased our ordering knowing we are going to need more in stock,” Wittenberg said.

Nearly 2 million city residents who rely on SNAP were caught in days of conflicting federal guidance, leaving them unsure whether and when their EBT cards would reload, or whether benefits would be clawed back entirely.

That whiplash is what New York state Attorney General Letitia James is fighting in court.

“If you have benefits on your cards, you can use them,” she said.

James won an emergency court order blocking the Trump administration from forcing states to take back benefits already issued.

“I am fighting the federal government every single day on this issue until they back off. Feed the people. Stop the cruelty,” James said.

But at street level, Wittenberg says the deeper concern now is what happens next.

“If an agreement would fall apart, the fear would return very quickly because I still think people are very uncertain and not convinced yet that it’s over,” Wittenberg said.

As the legal fight continues, Wittenberg says the line outside his Astoria building is the clearest sign of the damage, the New Yorkers caught in the chaos, just trying to eat.

“Don’t allow that fear of coming for the first time hold you back because we are there to help and to treat you with love. And respect in the name of God,” Wittenberg said.

James says if a business doesn’t accept an EBT card with benefits on it to contact here office and file a complaint.