We already knew that more people than ever were using food stamps in this economy, but today, the Wall Street Journal takes a look at what happens when too many people need assistance: job centers turn into complete sh*tshows.
Crowds of people storm the city's 29 job centers (which manage public-assistance benefits, like food stamps), lining up for hours and creating human traffic jams so large that the Fire Department has had to intervene. "It's outrageous," said a disabled man who was met with mass confusion at a center in Queens. "It's like everybody is running around with their head cut off, and no one cares." And with food stamp usage up all over the city—including at Greenmarkets—the mess isn't going away soon.
Some hunger advocates worry that the lines, confusion, and overly long wait times are discouraging people who need help from even applying. At best it's benign neglect," said Steven Banks of Legal Aid Society, which provides legal services to low-income New Yorkers. "At worst, it's like the English poor laws, in which the aim was to make the seeking of assistance so miserable that people wouldn't seek it." And Joel Berg, executive director of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger, said he believes some people are choosing to forgo benefits rather than confront the long waits.
Mayor Bloomberg, who in the past has been criticized for requiring food stamp applicants to get fingerprinted, remained unsentimental about the center conditions: "New York, as a compassionate society, does a better job of taking care of the less fortunate than virtually any other city," he said. Yeah! It's great to be on welfare here—just ask Mr. EBT.
