Jobless benefits flowing for NYers

The Cuomo administration finally started distributing unemployment insurance benefits this week to 2.26 million New Yorkers — $1.9 million in total — weeks after the White House accused the state of dragging its feet on the matter.

The state Labor Department said jobless New Yorkers received retroactive federal Lost Wages Assistance benefits of $300 each for the weeks of Aug. 2, Aug. 9 and Aug. 16.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is overseeing the program, approved New York for a second and final round of benefits — for a maximum of six weeks of payments.

“Over the last six months, we have moved heaven and earth to connect millions of New Yorkers with their benefits, including nearly $1.9 billion in Lost Wages Assistance payments distributed just this week,” said state Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon.

She blamed any snafus on the feds and noted benefits are limited to six weeks.

“While plagued with administrative roadblocks, the federal Lost Wages Assistance program is now finally providing unemployed families with much-needed support — and it is unconscionable for the federal government to once again cut Americans off from this support,” she said.

President Trump authorized the federal benefits by executive order on Aug. 8 after the $600-a-week payments provided by the CARES Act expired on July 31 and Congress deadlocked on an extension.

Cuomo initially opposed Trump’s alternative program as “impossible” because it required that states kick in $100 a week for each unemployed worker. The White House subsequently waived that requirement.