600,000 in City May Qualify for Food Stamps

A city initiative to enroll eligible residents into federal food stamp programs has identified about 600,000 New Yorkers who may qualify for government aid, city officials announced yesterday. The city will begin sending information to these people in July, explaining that they may be entitled to receive more benefits than they currently do.

"The food stamp data match initiative is a simple and cost-effective way to use technology to bring much-needed food support to low-income New Yorkers," the speaker of the City Council, Christine Quinn, said yesterday in a statement.

Of the approximately 600,000 New Yorkers targeted under the initiative, 211,801 reside in Brooklyn, representing the highest number in any borough, versus just 21,287 in Staten Island, the lowest of any borough. The program is intended to identify New Yorkers who are enrolled in Medicaid but not in federal food stamp programs, as the criteria for eligibility is similar for both forms of aid.