Karen Yi covers homelessness and poverty. She joined the WNYC and Gothamist newsroom in 2020. Before that, Karen covered Newark for the Star-Ledger and spent almost a decade working for newspapers in New Jersey and Florida. She grew up in Miami and has a dog named Cashew. Got a tip? Email kyi@wnyc.org or Signal 917-589-1460.
Karen Yi appears in the following:
SNAP and the Cost of Groceries
Thursday, November 13, 2025
Karen Yi and Joe Hong on how grocery prices can vary between stores and neighborhood and how grocery stores fared during the interruption of SNAP benefits.
Recapping Yesterday's Local Elections
Wednesday, November 05, 2025
New Jersey's new governor-elect is Mikie Sherrill. New York City's mayor-elect is Zohran Mamdani. Not to mention the ballot initiatives. WNYC/Gothamist reporters Liz Kim & Karen Yi re...
SNAP Benefits and the Government Shutdown
Tuesday, October 28, 2025
Due to the government shutdown, millions of Americans are likely to miss their Supplemental Assistance Nutrition Program (SNAP) paychecks starting this Saturday.
NYC immigrants want safer, better-paying work. A major hurdle: building digital skills.
Wednesday, August 27, 2025
Inside a small house in the Parkchester neighborhood of the Bronx, seven Bangladeshi women sat around a large table earlier this month, trying to figure out how to mute themselves on ...
Thousands of NY and NJ families need subsidized childcare and can’t get it
Friday, August 22, 2025
Child care is becoming increasingly unaffordable for families. That’s why more parents in New Jersey and New York are relying on subsidized vouchers to help pay for it. But while both...
It’s 2025, but a quarter of Bronx families don’t have broadband internet at home
Tuesday, August 19, 2025
Al Christian says he doesn’t have internet at his Bronx home because he can’t afford the utility bill. That makes it hard to look for work since most applications and job listings are...
These are the New Yorkers who could lose SNAP benefits under Trump rules
Friday, July 25, 2025
New York City officials and food pantry organizers say thousands of SNAP recipients are at risk of losing their benefits under President Trump’s sweeping tax cut measure. Republicans ...
Trump tax bill guts $29M program helping New Yorkers eat healthier on a budget
Wednesday, July 16, 2025
At Fairmont Neighborhood School in the Bronx last week, an eagle-eyed kindergartener just tall enough to peer over a row of elevated flower beds spotted a small red bulb covered with ...
This mobile clinic rolls up to homeless New Yorkers who need mental health services
Monday, July 07, 2025
Two days a week, an RV-like van parks outside a Chelsea soup kitchen with a licensed psychiatrist on board offering care to anyone who wants it.There’s no need for a referral, insuran...
IDs, coats, a microwave: the few items stored during NYC homeless encampment sweeps
Wednesday, June 18, 2025
A health insurance card, a 10-speed mountain bike, a blue men’s jacket and a microwave are among the few belongings stored by New York City officials this year after they cleared home...
These landlords promised to house dozens of once homeless New Yorkers. Now they’re evicting them.
Wednesday, June 04, 2025
Landlords who get public money to house the most vulnerable New Yorkers — including people who were recently homeless and those with mental illness and substance abuse disorder — soug...
'You never think it will be you': NYC child welfare removals show racial bias, per report
Wednesday, June 04, 2025
Briana Hunt was picking up extra work at a hair salon in Washington, D.C., when she got a chilling phone call: Her 1-year-old daughter had nearly drowned in the bathtub in their Bronx...
NYC wants to make it easier for nonprofits to own homeless shelters. Here's why.
Friday, May 16, 2025
A new 95-bed shelter for families with children opened last month thanks to a city tool that helps nonprofits own the shelters they manage.New York City officials said the model will ...
NYC shuts down child care subsidy enrollment amid feud with Hochul
Tuesday, May 06, 2025
New York City on Monday will stop enrolling new families seeking child care vouchers, amid an escalating feud with the state over who should pay for the popular program that helps tho...
NYPD removed 27K homeless people from the streets last year — mostly in Manhattan
Monday, April 28, 2025
Police helped remove more than 27,000 homeless people from the street over a nine-month period last year, mostly in Lower Manhattan and Midtown, according to city data. But whether th...
When you gotta go: NYC Council vows to make it easier to find a public bathroom
Friday, April 18, 2025
Places to go when you've got to go will double in New York City over the next decade, under a bill passed by the City Council Thursday.NYC has among the fewest commodes per capita amo...
7K NYC families could lose child care subsidies each month under state budget plan
Thursday, April 17, 2025
Tens of thousands of New York City families would lose their child care vouchers under the state’s proposed budget — a move that advocates say would leave parents unable to work and f...
NYC offers developers a deal: Build affordable units, we'll help cover tenants' rent
Wednesday, April 09, 2025
New York City officials are trying out a novel way to move longtime residents of homeless shelters into new permanent housing — by guaranteeing most of their rent.
Will Republicans in Washington Make New Yorkers Hungrier?
Thursday, April 03, 2025
Experts anticipate deep cuts to federal food assistance programs by the Republican-led Congress in this year's budget negotiations set to take place in September. Karen Yi, WNYC and G...
Federal cuts to SNAP benefits would crush 1.8M NYers who rely on them, city officials say
Tuesday, April 01, 2025
New York City officials and anti-hunger groups are bracing for deep cuts by Republicans in Congress to the federal food stamp program that feeds more residents than ever before: 1.8 m...
