On Long Island, shutdown sparks concern for federal workers, 'underserved'

Federal workers who serve Long Island fear that uncertainties from a prolonged government shutdown could lead to unpaid bills, imperiled finances, work furloughs from various agencies and even the elimination of some agency staff, a union official said Thursday.

Oyster Bay resident Gabriel Pedreira, legislative and political organizer for District 2 (New York, New Jersey and New England) of the 800,000-member American Federation of Government Employees, recalled his first government shutdown in 2019 that ended after 35 days.

"We had people going to food banks," said Pedreira, who attended a news conference on the shutdown Thursday called by U.S. Rep. Laura Gillen (D-Rockville Centre). 

"We had people who could not pay their utility bills at the time," he said. "We had families who couldn’t pay for child care at the time. We had people who were forced to work and literally couldn’t afford the gasoline to put in their car to get to work."

"People’s lives are at stake here," Pedreira added.

It's not just workers.

Bonnie Michelle Cannon, executive director of the Bridgehampton Child Care and Recreational Center, said many clients her nonprofit sees are anxious about how the federal shutdown will affect their lives. The Center, as it’s called, provides assistance to an "underserved community," she told Newsday in a phone interview,

"One of the biggest things is WIC and SNAP," Cannon said that clients are concerned about. WIC, or Women, Infants and Children, is a federal supplemental nutrition program.

For now, the effects of the shutdown are just beginning to manifest.

Workers continued to report to the Internal Revenue Service office in Holtsville on Thursday afternoon on the second day of the shutdown.

Employees said they were instructed not to speak to reporters and security at the building and referred questions to IRS headquarters in Washington, D.C.

"I think we’re all in a pleasant state of mind that we’re still working and not just sitting around," one worker said outside the building, who declined to give their name in compliance with the order.

The IRS building shares the Holtsville property with the office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which also remained open Thursday.

Operations at the IRS will continue under the current lapse in appropriations through midnight Tuesday, using funding from 2022 legislation, the agency said in a statement.

IRS offices are "maintaining regular hours" and web-based services with "other services continuing as usual," according to the statement. "Taxpayers should continue to meet any federal tax filing or payment obligations as normal."

The shutdown could change daily rituals of Long Islanders.

Retired life skills teacher Wayne Caldicott, 69, of Brookhaven, said he walks at the Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge Center every day.

The federal employees provide a plethora of programs for visitors and for the environment such as birding, guiding people through trails and helping eels migrate, he said.

The employee parking lot that usually hosts staff trucks was completely empty, Caldicott said.

"It's definitely a great place for us, a safe walk," he said of the refuge. "I see these young people investing in the service, the Park Service, Forestry Service. Nobody can afford to shut down, everybody lives on the check."

Fidias Casado, 44, Manorville, had come to walk in the refuge Thursday with his wife and three children.

The family tried to open the doors to the visitor center but were confused to find it locked. They often visit the property but had never gone into the center and decided to see what was inside.

Casado said it was sad to see "it get affected."