honestly the whole system is messed up... you're stuck between a rock and a hard place. if you don't apply for unemployment you have no income, but if you do apply you might get in trouble later when disability reviews your case. it's like they want people to suffer while they wait for help. i've seen people wait 2+ years for disability decisions and what are they supposed to live on in the meantime??

I went through this exact situation about 3 years ago and it was really stressful trying to figure out what to do. What I learned is that technically you can collect unemployment while waiting for disability, but you need to be very careful about how you handle it. The key thing is being honest - when you certify for unemployment benefits, you're saying you're able to work in some capacity, even if it's with limitations. I documented everything carefully and made sure my job search efforts were genuine (looking for positions I could actually do given my health issues). It's definitely a gray area and I was always worried about potential conflicts, but I needed the income while waiting. My disability case took 14 months to resolve, so the unemployment really helped me get by. Just make sure you keep detailed records of everything in case questions come up later.

hang in there! mine took 9 weeks but I won and got like $4800 in back pay. definitely worth fighting if you know you're right

I'm going through the same thing right now - filed my appeal 3 weeks ago after being wrongly denied. It's so stressful not knowing when you'll hear back or get any income. Has anyone had success getting updates on their appeal status through the online portal, or is calling really the only way? The waiting is the worst part when you have bills piling up.

Just to clarify something that's causing confusion: the registration with the Career Center is different from your weekly work search activities. Your job coach helps with the work search requirements (applying to jobs, improving resumes, etc.), but the one-time Career Center registration is a separate requirement that must be completed within the first 7 days of filing your claim.

Just wanted to add that if you're worried about duplicate services, you can actually mention your existing job coach program when you register with the Career Center. Sometimes they can coordinate or at least note it in your file so you're not getting conflicting advice. I did this when I had both a WIOA program counselor and had to register with DOL - the Career Center person was actually helpful and made sure we weren't duplicating efforts. But yeah, you definitely still need to register regardless!

UPDATE: My payment finally hit this morning (Thursday)! The status on the website still says "pending" but the money is definitely in my account. Looks like it was just a processing delay after all. Thanks everyone for your help and reassurance!

Glad to see this worked out for everyone! As someone who's been dealing with NY unemployment for over a year, I can confirm these random processing delays happen more often than they should. The frustrating part is NYSDOL rarely communicates about them proactively - you usually find out through forums like this or their Twitter if you're lucky. For future reference, if your payment is more than 3 business days late AND showing as "pending" (not "released"), that's when you should definitely call. But if it just says "processed" or "released," it's usually just a banking delay and will show up within a day or two. Keep this thread bookmarked for the next time it happens!

Just make sure you file soon after your job ended. There's usually a waiting period and you don't want to lose out on any weeks of benefits you're entitled to.

I'm 58 and was in a similar situation a few months ago - lost my part-time retail job and was worried about how my early Social Security would affect unemployment. Like others mentioned, you can definitely receive both! Just wanted to add that when you file your initial claim, they'll ask about all income sources but Social Security won't disqualify you. The key thing is being honest about your work availability - I made it clear I was looking for part-time work that would work with my schedule and had no problems. Good luck Paolo, and don't wait too long to file!