The Social Security Administration (SSA) permanently closed the White Plains Office of Hearings Operations located at 75 South Broadway in White Plains, on May 31st. 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 previously called out Acting Social Security Commissioner Leland Dudek in early May, 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.
“We start this week with fewer services for the people of Westchester County due to the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)’s decision to close the Social Security Office in White Plains. We offered them space in a County office building at a reduced rate. I have been vocal—I’ve spoken with both Congressman George Latimer and Congressman Mike Lawler—explaining how detrimental this closure will be for our area. We will continue fighting for the people of Westchester County, but the federal government has made it clear: they do not care about cutting services or the harm this decision will cause,” County Executive Ken Jenkins shared in a statement to Black Westchester on Monday, June 2nd. “If the SSA were truly interested in saving money, they would have accepted the County’s offer for a much more affordable space. Let’s be clear—closing this SSA office isn’t about saving money, finding fraud, or rooting out waste. This is about denying people their benefits—not explicitly, but by omission. For those who are disabled or elderly, we all know they won’t be able to travel an hour or more to sort out and fight for the benefits they’ve earned. Travel is a luxury not everyone can afford—and the federal government knows that. Their message is bold and cruel: starve.”
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.
Judges and staff from the White Plains office have been reassigned to other local hearing offices, according to the Social Security Administration (.gov). 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.
A couple of years ago I went to this office and was met by an armed guard in uniform. He said that I could not enter without an appointment, which I was unable to get because the Social Security phone number I was supposed to call never was answered. NEVER. And SS would not let me deal with the undefined problem online. I tried.
I got lucky and explained to the guard my situation and he let me enter to make an appointment. There were no other “customers”. The person at the desk looked up my “problem” and cleared it. This after a month of phone calls.
DOGE the heck out of government at all levels, including Westchester County, which is mismanaging its freebie Electric Vehicle car program while taking credit. Yes, I have an Hyundai EV.
You should read Thomas Sowell (not Soul).