JENKINS AND LATIMER AGAIN PUSH BACK ON SSA DECISION TO CLOSE WESTCHESTER HEARING OFFICE
The Social Security Administration (SSA) is permanently closing the White Plains Office of Hearings Operations located at 75 South Broadway in White Plains at the end of May. The closure is due to the landlord not renewing the lease, and the Trump administration has no plans to open a new hearing office. This office served as the only hearing office in the Hudson Valley region (which comprises Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Orange, Ulster, and Sullivan Counties), impacting residents who may now have to travel further for hearings. Residents who rely on this hearing office will now have to travel further to access in-person services, potentially to offices in the Bronx, lower Manhattan, Albany, New Jersey, or New Haven, Connecticut.
Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins is calling out Acting Social Security Commissioner Leland Dudek for his total disregard of the people of Westchester County, after Dudek rejected a second offer from the County and US Congressman George Latimer to use County space for the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) White Plains Hearing Office.
“It’s clear that no matter how reasonable the offer, the Social Security Administration simply doesn’t want a hearing office here in Westchester County. This isn’t about politics or party lines — this is about our parents, grandparents, and most vulnerable friends and neighbors being left with no access to Social Security services when there is a problem,” County Executive Ken Jenkins emphatically stated. “The reality is that traveling to another hearing office an hour or more away, to another county or even another state, is a privilege. For those who find travel difficult or impossible, they are being completely shut out by the Social Security Administration. Westchester is the largest County in the Hudson Valley and should have a hearing office.”
Some members of Congress, including Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Rep. Mike Lawler (CD-17), and Congressman George Latimer (CD-16), have expressed concerns about the closure and have asked the SSA to reconsider its decision or find an alternative location.
“I am deeply disappointed by the response I received from Acting Commissioner Dudek. I am frustrated on behalf of my elderly and disabled constituents. It is clear that this administration has no intention of helping Americans receive benefits they have earned. When the Hearing Office closes on May 31st, Westchester residents will have to travel to New Haven, CT or downtown Manhattan to fight for their rights,” Rep Latimer said in a statement. “Using county space would have saved the federal government money and maintained services here in White Plains. This really is unconscionable and shows how little regard President Trump and his administration have for everyday Americans; we deserve better.”
Judges and staff from the White Plains office have been reassigned to other local hearing offices. The White Plains, N.Y., Office of Hearing Operations clears more than 2,000 disability benefits cases each year and currently has a backlog of 2,000 pending cases. The current hearing office is set to close on May 31st.
In related news, Congressman Latimer (NY-16) will be joined by CE Ken Jenkins, local and state officials, and veterans’ advocates for a press conference Friday, May 2, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. The press conference will bring attention to the proposed cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) staff and how the cuts will affect the healthcare and benefits veterans receive. The event will be held at the Tibbits Park extension between S Broadway and Main Street in White Plains.
More than 2,000 VA employees have already been fired, some of whom provided support for the Veterans Crisis Line. The Trump Administration has proposed cutting an additional 83,000 staff, or about 1/5 of VA staff, by August. These cuts could affect wait times for healthcare appointments and delay when veterans receive the benefits they have earned.
