UES Deli Sues Govt Over Claims It Trafficked Food Stamps: Suit

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — An Upper East Side deli that fed food-insecure New Yorkers during the pandemic is now engaged in a new fight for survival after a federal agency banned it from accepting food stamps, according to a lawsuit filed last week in U.S. Federal Court in New York.

First On First Deli owner Yasin Algabyali filed the suit against the U.S. government and the United States Department of Agriculture to fight an order that permanently disqualifies the business from participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

“They’re using data to ruin storeowner’s lives and it’s beyond me," the business's attorney Jeremy Feigenbaum of Spodek Law Group, PC, told Patch on Monday.

"Mom and Pop stores are now having to fight for their lives at a time when they’re already struggling to survive."

The suit states that the deli, on First Avenue near East 91st Street, was stripped of its ability to participate in the SNAP program after the USDA claimed First on First had been trafficking SNAP benefits. The USDA said it investigated after noticing irregular SNAP transaction data over a three-month period.

The suit said that the USDA claimed that the business accepted repeat transactions from the same household and that large purchase transactions were unsupported by the store’s food stock. But Feigenbaum told Patch on Monday that the charges and punishment against First On First were levied by the USDA without actual evidence that any wrongdoing had taken place or even speaking with anyone associated with the Upper East Side business.

Instead, he said that the agency merely “rubber-stamped” the claims despite the deli producing evidence of an uptick in food stamp business during the coronavirus pandemic and that levels have since returned to normal.

“It’s like, ‘are you guys kidding me? (The USDA) gives out more food stamps and then you get upset when (people) use them?” Feigenbaum said.

"It’s very easily understandable, but the USDA sees what they want to see and does what they’re going to do regardless of what the actual facts are.”

An email from Patch seeking comment from the USDA regarding the lawsuit did not get an immediate response Monday.

The suit states that the deli was notified of the USDA’s decision at the end of May after the evidence that the business submitted was rejected. The action came at a time when more than 1.7 million New Yorkers were qualified for the SNAP program and when state officials approved an increase in monthly SNAP benefits because of the ongoing pandemic.

As of October 2020, there were more than 2.8 million New York State residents receiving SNAP benefits, which was an 8 percent increase from the same period in 2019, state officials said.

After appealing the USDA decision to the agency’s review board, the deli’s owner submitted more evidence he hoped would show that he had not trafficked SNAP benefits, but that was also rejected.

The suit states that the USDA alerted the deli on Aug. 2 that it had been permanently disqualified from taking part in the SNAP program.Feigenbaum estimated fighting the USDA decision could last anywhere from eight months to two years and cost tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees.

First on First never before had issues with the SNAP program and was never before accused of willingly breaking a law regarding food stamps, Feigenbaum said.

“It’s very, very unfortunate the way the agency treats its retailers,” Feigenbaum said. “They treat them like criminals rather than partners."