Social Security Office in Long Beach to Close Friday

Come Friday at 12 p.m., the Social Security Administration will permanently close its office in Long Beach, at 25-27 E. Park Ave., after Congress slashed nearly $1 billion from its budget, forcing the federal agency to scale back hours, consolidate  operations and transfer services to locations in Freeport, Mineola or Far Rockaway.  

Long Beach’s office is one of many closures across the nation — including locations in Mount Vernon, N.Y. and in Connecticut — and Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg, D-Long Beach, told the Long Beach Herald he did everything he could politically to keep the office open in his home city.

About the closures, Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, said on the agency’s website:

“Congress provided our agency with nearly $1 billion less than the President requested for our budget this fiscal year, which makes it impossible for us to provide the amount of overtime needed to handle service to the public as we have in the past.”  

Nearly 55 million Americans received $727 billion in Social Security benefits in 2011, accounting for about 20 percent of the federal budget, according to the Social Security Administration.

City Council President Fran Adelson, in a statement released Tuesday, called the office in Long Beach a valuable resource for the city.  

“We are extremely disappointed in their decision to route our residents to another location when they are in need of assistance, creating an unnecessary hardship,” Adelson stated. “The SSA's decision was made completely independent of the city, and we are urging them to reconsider.”

Residents apply for Social Security income, hospital insurance protection, and extra support with Medicare prescription drug costs, as well as other benefits, at the Long Beach office. According to the city, the Long Beach office has eight employees who serve about 21,000 beneficiaries, while the Freeport office has 26 employees, serving more than 112,000 beneficiaries.

City Council Vice President Len Torres challenged whether consolidating services and transferring them to the Freeport office will save money. “It is not cost-effective for a family or individual requiring help to travel several towns away to visit an office that was once in walking distance,” he said.

* This story was updated at 2:24 on 2.7.12.