AARP new york, Public Utility Law Project of New York Send Open Letter to Governor Hochul Urgently Requesting HEAP Assistance

AARP New York and the Public Utility Law Project of New York sent an open letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul on October 30, 2025 urgently requesting that the state opens the Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) as scheduled on November 3rd to ensure that New Yorkers in need receive heating assistance. The letter can be viewed in full below.

October 30, 2025

Honorable Kathy Hochul
Governor of the State of New York
Executive Chamber
NYS Capitol Building
Albany, NY 12224

                        Re: Providing New Yorkers in Need with Heating Assistance – HEAP

Dear Governor Hochul:

Our organizations applaud your leadership in providing a total investment of $106 million in new State funds for emergency food assistance that will reinforce New York’s network of vital food bank and pantry partners and provide millions of meals to hungry New Yorkers.

That leadership is urgently needed to address another crisis—ensuring people can heat and power their homes this heating season. We urge you to open the Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) as scheduled on November 3rd and to provide the necessary funding to maintain benefits until federal funds are restored.

If the funding issue is not resolved and the program cannot open on November 3, we believe the only responsible course of action would be for you to call for a statewide moratorium on utility service terminations for all residential electric, gas, and combination companies, including the Long Island Power Authority, until HEAP is restored and sorely needed benefits can once again reach eligible households.

We believe this is not the time to delay heating assistance. New York State is in the middle of an energy affordability crisis: more than 1.2 million households are currently over 60 days behind on their energy bills, collectively owing nearly $2 billion. In September alone, more than 53,000 terminations occurred statewide, about 1,800 individual households each day.

Our state’s largest utility, Con Edison, which serves households in New York City and Westchester County, has disconnected over 140,000 households for non-payment since January —an average of 15,500 households a month. This rate of termination has reached a historic peak, unmatched since the economic downturn of the late 2000s.

These risks extend beyond low-income households. If the federal government remains shut down, thousands of federal employees will lose income indefinitely, leaving them unable to meet basic expenses, including utility bills.

As you know, HEAP is a lifeline for millions of low-income New Yorkers, including older persons on fixed incomes, providing critical heating assistance during the winter months. According to your own data, the program served more than 1.5 million households last year, many of which include vulnerable individuals such as older adults.

Our state cannot sit idly by while service terminations continue without the safety net HEAP provides. We once again urge you to open HEAP as scheduled on November 3rd and provide the resources needed to protect New Yorkers from being left without heat this winter. If that is not possible, we urge you to initiate a statewide moratorium on utility service terminations for all energy utilities, including the Long Island Power Authority, until HEAP funds are restored.

Sincerely,

Beth Finkel, AARP NY State Director         

Laurie Wheelock, PULP Executive Director

CC:

Rory Christian,

Chief Executive Officer

NYS Department of Public Service

Carrie Meek Gallagher

Chief Executive Officer

Long Island Power Authority

Barbara C. Guinn

Commissioner

Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance

Appendix 

1.    September 2025 Collections Activity Reports filed by the utilities in Case No. 91-M-0744.

LiveOn NY Statement on SNAP Cuts and Resources for Advocates

LiveOn NY calls on federal government to release contingency funds to fully fund SNAP

New York, NY – Currently, SNAP benefits will not be available for New Yorkers on November 1st due to the federal shutdown. No solution has been proposed to fully guarantee that funds will be available for the 3 million New Yorkers, 21% of whom are age 60 or older, who rely on SNAP for their daily meals. While the state of New York has appropriately declared a state of emergency, advancing over $100 million to fund parallel food assistance programs and distributing food to children at school, many older New Yorkers will have to make untenable decisions to afford their food. LiveOn NY issued the following statement:

“It is outrageous that 3 million New Yorkers’ meals – which have already been paid for – are being withheld as part of the political brinksmanship going on in the Capitol,” said Allison Nickerson, Executive Director at LiveOn NY. “These are not intellectual concerns or soundbites for TV. We’re talking about older and marginalized New Yorkers who are going to have to choose between meals and rent. This cannot continue, and federal officials must release contingency funds to ensure that we have the meals we need.” 

LiveOn NY is advocating for federal, state and city officials to:

• Immediately release the $5-6 billion in SNAP contingency funds to New York State to ensure that a larger portion of November benefits can be funded.

• Transfer additional funds to cover the remainder of the $2-3 billion shortfall, following the precedent set in October to fund WIC benefits.

• Fully fund and utilize the aging service system to ensure that senior center meals and home-delivered meals are available to older New Yorkers who need them.

Here are resources for older New Yorkers and advocates:

NYC Food maps:

• NYS Federal Cuts Resources: ny.gov/FoodAssistance

• NYC Official Food Finder: Map

• Food Bank for NYC: NYC Food Map

• NY Common Pantry: Pantries in Harlem and the Bronx

• City Harvest: NYC Food Map

The latest on SNAP: 

• NYC OTDA: State Updates to SNAP

• NYC HRA: City Updates to SNAP

• Hunger Free America Letter: Protect SNAP During the Federal Shutdown

• Hunger Solutions NY: Toolkit: SNAP 11/1/25 Changes

Relevant news articles:

• NY State: Gov. Hochul Declares State of Emergency, over $100M in State Funds

• Reuters: Senator Schumer sees US shutdown stretching into November

• Gothamist: NY attorney general sues Trump administration to resume SNAP payouts

LiveOn NY’s Age Strong campaign is continuing its advocacy for New Yorkers at the state and city level, calling for bold investments in affordable housing, food and nutrition, and community infrastructure to allow New Yorkers to age in dignity.

LiveOn NY will continue to monitor the situation to keep providers and advocates informed as details emerge. More information on LiveOn NY can be found at our website: www.liveon-ny.org/. 

If you would like more information, please contact Frank Shintaro McMullin, Communications Specialist at LiveOn NY, at fmcmullin@liveon-ny.org or at (408) 620-0694.

LiveOn NY Statement on Government Shutdown and Resources for Advocates

New York, NY – As of October 3, the federal government is still shut down. While the majority of funding for older adult services has already been disbursed, federal funding will be drastically impacted if the shutdown extends for a month. LiveOn NY issued the following statement on the shutdown:

“Decisions being made in our capital are jeopardizing older New Yorkers’ health and safety – from access to healthcare and food to the programs that keep them in their homes,” said Allison Nickerson, Executive Director at LiveOn NY. “It is unacceptable that, as always, older adults, workers, and marginalized communities are the ones having to bear the weight of funding fights. Congress must prioritize a budget that fully funds critical older adult services and gives Americans the support they need to age in their communities.”

Here’s what older New Yorkers and advocates need to know about key federally-funded programs:

• Area Agencies on Aging: AAAs throughout the state will not be affected by the shutdown until after December.

• Direct Benefits for Older Adults: The shutdown will not affect the payment of cash assistance, unemployment, Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid.

• Social Security offices will not be able to provide benefit letters or earning statements during the shutdown.

• SNAP: The October allotment will not be affected, but future allotments may be. 92% of USDA staff will be furloughed, which will likely affect New York State’s cost burden. People should continue to apply for benefits and recipients should continue to recertify. More info here.

• Hospital at Home Program: The Medicare-sponsored HAH telehealth program is directly affected: hospitals have been forced to discharge patients due to the shutdown, leaving many seniors without telehealth services.

• WIC: The program will continue, but may be affected later in the year.

As the forecast of federal budget cuts remains unclear, LiveOn NY’s Age Strong campaign is redoubling its advocacy for New Yorkers at the state and city level, calling for bold investments in affordable housing, food and nutrition, and community infrastructure to allow New Yorkers to age in dignity.

LiveOn NY will continue to monitor the situation to keep providers and advocates informed as details emerge.

LiveOn NY and Cornell Weill Researchers Put Seniors In Focus During Climate Week

Advocates Partner To Center Older Adults, Who Are Overwhelmingly The Most Vulnerable Population To Climate Change

On September 26, LiveOn NY, a leading advocate for older adults in New York, joined researchers from the Cornell Initiative for Research on Climate and Aging (CIRCA) for a virtual roundtable discussion during Climate Week examining the often-overlooked risks that older adults face due to climate change. The webinar took place as part of the New York Climate and Aging Action Network (NY-CAAN), a collaboration between LiveOn NY, the New York Academy of Medicine, and CIRCA. 

“We are aging more than ever, and so it’s more important than ever to include older people in climate discussions,” said Allison Nickerson, Executive Director at LiveOn NY. “The goal of NY-CAAN is to create evidence-based, common-sense policy and infrastructure solutions to protect us all as we get older.”

The panel explored how older adults face uniquely higher risks of negative health outcomes, financial strain and negative mental health impacts. It went on to discuss how the majority of natural disaster-related casualties and injuries are suffered by older adults, reinforcing the importance of centering older voices when identifying potential solutions.

“Climate change poses unique risks for older adults: we get more vulnerable to heat as we age, and disasters can interrupt critical care services,” said Karl Pillemer, Co-Director at the Cornell Initiative for Research on Climate and Aging. “This led to over 50% of deaths during Hurricane Sandy being older adults, underscoring the need for senior-focused policy solutions to address the climate crisis.” 

NY-CAAN outlined multiple priorities over the next year of its partnership:

• Identifying policy recommendations for senior-focused solutions to the climate crisis

• A climate summit to ensure that the community most vulnerable to climate change has a voice in the discussion

• Coalition-building across sectors, including aging advocates, academics, elected officials and community partners, as part of LiveOn NY’s Age Strong initiative

• Provide advocates with political power-mapping to make advocacy more effective

More information on LiveOn NY can be found at our website: www.liveon-ny.org/. The webinar can be found here.

If you would like more information, please contact Frank Shintaro McMullin, Communications Specialist at LiveOn NY, at fmcmullin@liveon-ny.org or at (408) 620-0694.

LiveOn NY & Age Strong NY Campaign Celebrates Restored Funding for Older Adult Services in New City Budget

CONTACT: sydney@newdealstrategies.com

LIVEON NY AND AGE STRONG NY CAMPAIGN CELEBRATES RESTORED FUNDING FOR OLDER ADULT SERVICES IN NEW CITY BUDGET

NEW YORK, NY — Today, LiveOn NY and community organizations in the Age Strong NY campaign celebrated the passage of a revised New York City Budget, which restores funding to critical infrastructure and programs for older adults, and averted the closure of 90 older adult centers.

In total, the budget sets aside: 

• ​​$4.7 million for HDM

• $2 million for case management 

• $5 million for older adult center infrastructure 

• $104 million to fix the fiscal cliff

The Age Strong NY campaign was instrumental in elevating the needs of aging New Yorkers, and calling attention to the original devastating cuts to services and programs throughout the budget process — culminating in a June citywide Day of Action where advocates were joined by elected officials to demand funding for aging services.

LiveOn’s executive director, Allison Nickerson, released the following statement: 

“In these uncertain times for government funded programs, we are celebrating a budget that responds to our urgent needs. The updated NYC budget has averted the closure of 90 older adult centers and has added funding to the home delivered meals program, case management, and efforts to repair older adult centers across the city. 

This is a step in the right direction — but there is still more work to be done. New York City is rapidly aging, and older New Yorkers are still struggling to stay in their homes, afford food and basic necessities with the rising cost of living. We look forward to working alongside our champions in the City Council and the Mayor’s office to find solutions that will continue to support the aging community in New York — present and future.”

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