How Does The Federal Government Shutdown Affect Brooklyn?

With Congress failing to pass a spending bill on Friday, the federal government shut down at midnight on Saturday, January 20.

How does the shutdown affect Brooklyn? According to www.ny.gov, the following WILL be impacted:

• Many federal regulatory agencies will be furloughing employees and services might be limited. The New York Times has a list of furloughed federal employees here.
• IRS call centers and most offices are closed
• Federally funded parks and historic sites are accessible but they will have no visitor services (including restrooms).

While the Statue of Liberty was closed over the weekend, disappointing many tourists, Governor Cuomo announced yesterday that New York State will fully fund the cost of operations at the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Both will reopen today, Monday, January 22.

The following will NOT be affected by the government shutdown:

• New York State government will continue normal operations with no impact on services. Currently, NYS agencies are not affected (i.e. there is “No Immediate Impact” on the Department of Motor Vehicles).
• Social Security benefits are not interrupted
• U.S. Postal Service operations will continue as normal
• Medicaid and Medicare are not affected
• Law enforcement agencies will continue to operate
• The military, intelligence agencies and foreign embassies will continue normal operations
• The issuing of passports and visas is not currently impacted but may be affected if the shutdown is continued for an extended period of time.

Senate leaders worked over the weekend to try to reach an agreement and will vote today at noon on a bill to reopen the federal government and extend funding through February 8, WNYC reports.

The last time the government was shut down was in October 2013. That shutdown lasted 16 days, according to the New York Times.