I Visited Social Security’s Customer Service Office | Invesloan.com

I was ninth in line at the Long Island City Social Security office.

At 8:28 a.m., with the temperature hovering just above freezing, a small group of people were already gathered outside. Some held proof of address or medical documents, others clutched paper cups of coffee from the Dunkin’ up the street.

By the time the doors opened at 8:57 a.m., the line was starting to curve around the building. I was joined by mostly seniors, one young couple with a baby, and a man in a “proud United States veteran” baseball hat.

“Anyone here with a question about their lifetime earnings?” an employee asked as people filed into the fluorescent-lit room. She was met by a few nods. “Who is here to renew their Social Security card?” Several people raised their hands. Others said they had questions about their monthly benefit amounts or needed to update their bank information. An older man said he was there in person because he was struggling to get help over the phone.

The Social Security Administration has had a busy month. As part of President Donald Trump’s slashing of the federal workforce, Social Security has said its staffing target is now 50,000 workers, a reduction of 7,000 employees — which is already near a historic low. Acting Deputy Commissioner for Operations Doris Diaz told staff in a memo on March 13 that reductions in phone service and new ID requirements could lead to an additional 75,000 to 85,000 visitors a week at local field offices. This follows DOGE’s vow to stop benefits fraud, a phenomenon that is exceptionally rare, with only 0.84% of payments deemed improper by the SSA’s Office of the Inspector General.

These cuts and policy changes have come as a surprise for most within the SSA. Trump initially left the agency out of January’s federal workforce cuts and the president has previously said that he “will not cut one penny” from Social Security. The White House told BI this week that the recent cost-cutting measures are because the president is a “responsible steward” of tax dollars, and the SSA said five-day return-to-office requirements for staff will help with customer service issues. Still, AARP reported that they have been flooded with thousands of calls from concerned seniors. Uncertainty over the program’s future has caused widespread panic for the 73 million people who rely on it, and employees have told BI their morale is sinking.

“There was a 180-degree turn away from protecting the front lines and protecting service to the public,” Rich Couture, the federal worker union’s SSA General Committee spokesperson, told me, adding. “On top of the customer service crisis we’re already seeing, it’s going to push a lot of field offices over the edge in terms of what they’re able to handle.”

So, on a Thursday morning in March, I visited New York City field offices and tried calling customer service to understand what it’s like to navigate Social Security in 2025.

Because I didn’t have an appointment — and staff weren’t keen on talking to a journalist — I didn’t get past the waiting room in Long Island City. Employees and visitors weren’t open to interviews. As I left to catch the N train, another five people walked inside the glass office doors.

Phone service was overwhelmed, so I visited field offices in 3 boroughs

Social Security is a financial lifeline for millions of Americans: people with disabilities, households living near the poverty line, and retirees. A fifth of US adults over 50 don’t have adequate retirement savings, and BI has heard from hundreds of seniors who are relying on the monthly checks as their primary source of income. Some are trying to cover their housing, grocery, healthcare, and other expenses on about $1,000 a month.

“I don’t want to be rich, I just need to be comfortable,” one 62-year-old living on $1,104 in monthly Social Security told me. “I just want to know that I can have food when I need it and a nice roof over my head.”

Older adults have also told BI they have a hard time wading through government paperwork, especially if they are trying to claim Social Security alongside other benefits like SNAP or Medicare. At each of the field office locations I visited, at least one staff member’s main role was helping older visitors determine what paperwork they needed and what buttons they should push to check in for their appointment on the electronic machine.

These Social Security logistics issues aren’t new, but the customer service system set up to help beneficiaries navigate them is crumbling. Nearly 50 field offices are slated to close across the US due to funding cuts, and staff shortages mean the average phone wait time is about an hour and 44 minutes — and employees anticipate it getting worse. At the lower Manhattan SSA location I visited, the waiting room was packed with people waiting for help and the crowd significantly outnumbered employees.

I was having trouble getting seen in person, so I figured I’d call the 1-800 Social Security number to speak to an agent. The chipper-sounding robot said the wait time was “greater than 120 minutes” and then it immediately hung up on me.

Now unsuccessful in person and over the phone, I decided to take the train to downtown Brooklyn. I rode an overcrowded elevator up to the seventh-floor office, which was painted floor-to-ceiling in peachy pink. Hundreds of chairs were set up in the center of 30 different booths, only about eight of which were staffed. I took a ticket, sat with roughly 40 other visitors, and waited 21 minutes for my number to be called.

When “902” came across the intercom, I walked across the room to my Social Security appointment — several hours and two boroughs after I waited in line in Queens.

(The employee I had my appointment with told me she wouldn’t mind talking to me for this story, but her manager advised her not to.)

Of course, I wasn’t actually filing for Social Security on Thursday. I didn’t need to stay to fill out paperwork, and my ability to pay bills wasn’t riding on the success of my appointment. I also live in New York, where there are a few different field office locations that I can visit. SSA employees have warned that Trump’s new in-person ID requirement could mean some beneficiaries in rural areas and without transportation access will have a harder time getting service. For people relying on benefit checks to afford essentials or pay for healthcare, any delays could be catastrophic.

At the end of the day, I called Social Security’s 1-800 number again. The website says agents staff the phones from 8 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. local time Monday through Friday.

“The wait time is greater than 120 minutes,” the robot told me. “We are currently experiencing high volumes and all agents are busy. Goodbye.” Click.

Do you have a story about Social Security to share? Are you an SSA employee with a tip? Contact this reporter via Signal at alliekelly.10 or email [email protected]. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here’s our guide to sharing information securely.