In a strong reaction to the decision to go ahead and close the White Plains Social Security Hearing Office at 75 S. Broadway in White Plains, Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins accused the Trump Administration of turning its back on Westchester residents.
The closure decision was affirmed in a March 19 letter to Congressman George Latimer from Trump’s Acting Social Security Commissioner Leland Dudek. Latimer and Republican Congressman Mike Lawler had joined in a bipartisan effort to convince Dudek to keep the Hearing Office open.
In a related situation, the Business Journal has learned that there is a plan to close Social Security’s full-service office at 332 Main St. in Poughkeepsie. That office recently had reduced hours while renovations were underway but now is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The closure is set for July 31 and the Poughkeepsie office is one of dozens that were identified by Elon Musk’s DOGE people to be considered for shuttering.
“This is a disgraceful decision that prioritizes bureaucratic indifference over the well-being of Westchester residents,” Jenkins said. “The Trump Administration is effectively cutting off access to Social Security resources for those who need them most. Westchester County will not stand by while Washington abandons our communities.”
In his letter to Latimer, Dudek stated that residents seeking Social Security services could instead travel to Lower Manhattan, New Haven in Connecticut, the Bronx, or Goshen in Orange County. Jenkins said the Trump Administration is indifferent to seniors, individuals with disabilities and other vulnerable residents who depend on these services.
Jenkins and Latimer appeared together recently to announce that Westchester County was offering the federal government the use of space owned by the county as a new location for the White Plains Hearing Office. Jenkins did not name specific spaces covered by the offer, but did mention that the Westchester County Center features various spaces that could be used as a Social Security Hearing Office.
Social Security Administrative Law Judge Som Ramrup, who is president of the Association of Administrative Law Judges, was at the March 3 announcement and said, “More Americans will appear before a Social Security Administrative Law Judge than in any other judicial forum. It’s really imperative that clients who want to come into an office be able to do so conveniently. Our administrative law judges hear the stories of people who paid into the system for years. The Social Security program is just like any other insurance program. When you’re paying for insurance, insurance should be there for you when you need it.
“Imagine if you’re living in Poughkeepsie; imagine if you live in Monticello and you now have to go to the Bronx or you now have to go to lower Manhattan. We’re talking about people with significant impairments. Asking them to do that is a burden on them and is just not right,” Ramrup said.
