We the People Have Had Enough: Protest Against Closure of WP Social Security Office

A crowd of about 200 protesters turned out on Saturday March 22 to voice their opposition to the closure of the U.S. Social Security Office in White Plains. It is the only social security office in the county at a time when the agency is requiring in-person visits to make changes or claims. The agency has suggested that residents drive as far as Goshen, NY or New Haven, CT to take care of issues.
Protester sported signs saying “Save the Safety Net,” “STOP, Deranged Oligarchs Grab Everything,” “Hands Off Social Security,” “We The People Have Had Enough,” and” Support Retirees, Not Billionaires.”

In order to retain the office, Westchester County offered social security space in a county-owned office building but they were turned down.

On Saturday the group heard speeches from Congressman George Latimer, President of the American Federation of Teachers Randi Weingarten and State Senator Andrea Stewart Cousins. In the crowd were State Senator Shelley Mayer, Assemblywoman Dana Levenberg and County Executive Ken Jenkins.

Weingarten reminded the group that Social Security is not a handout. It is an earned benefit that workers have paid for through years of employment.

Andrea Stewart Cousins spoke passionately about the impact of her father’s $300 a month social security payment for her family. Her father fought in World War II in a segregated army and returned to a segregated America. Despite that he was able to get a union job and accrue his social security which his widow lived on after his death.

Commenting on the closure of the office, Deborah Porder Lead Organizer of Indivisible Scarsdale said, “Everyone should protest cuts to social security because they hurt all of us. For decades, my employers deducted social security and Medicare taxes from my paychecks. I understood that that my money would be safely invested in the social security trust fund and I would receive benefits when I retired. The government has no right to take the money away from me or from any other worker who contributed.”