Anyone received their ny unemployment tourism recovery payment yet?

Still waiting on mine too. Approved in November for $4100 and nothing so far. The worst part is you can never get anyone on the phone who knows anything about this program. I was told by one rep it could take "up to 6 months" which is ridiculous when people need this money now. Seems like they approved everyone then realized they didn't have enough funding.

After weeks of frustration trying to reach someone about my tourism recovery payment, I finally found a solution! I used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me a callback with an actual agent. Talking to a real person helped me discover my payment was held up due to a verification issue they never notified me about. The agent fixed it on the spot and my money hit my account 5 days later. It was the best money I've ever spent to finally get my benefits paid. Check out this video to see how it works: https://youtu.be/Rdqa1gKtxuE

I got mine last week! Applied in September, approved in November for $3200, and it just showed up in my account randomly. No notification or anything. I had basically given up on it. Check your bank accounts carefully - mine just said "NYS BENEFITS PAYMENT" as the description, not specifically Tourism Recovery.

Here's whats actually happening with the Tourism Recovery Fund (I work adjacent to state govt): They approved WAY more applications than they had funding for, thinking many wouldn't qualify during verification. Now they're slowly processing payments as more funding gets allocated. They're prioritizing by application date and financial need. If you applied later than Sept/Oct, you're probably in for a long wait. The program is legit, but completely overwhelmed. Keep checking your accounts - payments come in batches every 2-3 weeks.

I've been dealing with NY unemployment on and off for years and this is ALWAYS how it goes. They announce some new program, everyone gets excited, then it takes forever to actually get the money. I'm still waiting on my tourism payment too ($3950 approved in November). My neighbor got hers though - took exactly 14 weeks from approval date. So there is hope!

JUST GOT MINE TODAY!!!!! After waiting for 15 weeks! $4230 deposited straight to my account this morning. No email, no notification, nothing. Just randomly checked my account and boom there it was. Don't give up hope people!!!

Listen up everyone - I FINALLY got through to someone who actually knew about this program. Here's the deal: 1) They're processing payments in batches based on when you were approved and your industry sector 2) Hotel/accommodation workers are in the current batch being processed 3) Restaurant workers are next 4) If the system flagged anything about your application (even a minor discrepancy), you go to the back of the line 5) They ARE still sending payments, but they're spreading them out because of budget allocation issues 6) If you were approved, you WILL get paid eventually 7) You can check if there are any issues with your application by calling the main unemployment line and specifically asking them to check for "payment hold codes" on your Tourism Recovery application I was about to give up after 13 weeks of waiting, but I used claimyr.com to get through to someone who actually helped. My payment was on hold because my previous employer had contested my original unemployment claim (even though I was eligible). Once they cleared that flag, my payment was processed within a week.

Anyone else notice how they always announce these programs right before election seasons? 🤔 Just saying...

I work at a hotel in Buffalo and our HR person said several employees have started receiving their payments in the last two weeks. Seems like they're processing them by region maybe? Anyone from NYC area get theirs yet?

the amount of misinformation in this thread is wild lmao. I called today and they said the tourism recovery fund is completely separate from regular unemployment and most agents can't even see info about it. They gave me a specific number to call: 888-209-8124 and then press 2, then 5, then ask specifically for the tourism recovery department. still on hold for 2 hours tho so good luck 😂

Has anyone received a physical check instead of direct deposit? My approval letter said I'd get a check since they didn't have my banking info, but mail is unreliable in my building so I'm worried I might miss it.

It's April already. They're never going to pay this out. Just another empty promise from NY unemployment. I've given up honestly.

ok weird question but has anyone who got their payment received ANY communication from them before the money appeared? no email, letter, text, anything? I just want to know if I should expect some kind of heads up or if it just materializes in my account one day.

UPDATE: Just got off the phone with DOL (finally)! They told me they're processing about 5,000 payments per week, and there were over 150,000 approved applications. So depending on when you were approved and if there are any issues with your application, it could take up to 6-8 months from approval date. Such a mess.

This whole tourism recovery thing seems sketchy to me. My friend and I both worked at the same hotel, applied the same day, both got approved letters for similar amounts, but she got paid 3 weeks ago and I'm still waiting. Makes no sense.

I NEED this money so bad. Been checking my account every day for months. Approved for $3950 back in November and still nothing. My landlord is not understanding at all and I'm about to be evicted. NY unemployment system is a complete failure.

Tip for everyone still waiting: check your spam/junk email folders! My approval letter ended up there, and when I finally found it, it mentioned I needed to verify my identity within 10 days or my payment would be delayed. Never saw it until weeks later. Had to call and get it manually approved after that. Might be why some people are waiting longer than others.

To everyone still waiting - hang in there! Just got my $4130 today after waiting since October. Was about to give up hope but it finally came through. The website still says "pending" even though the money is already in my account lol. Their system is clearly not updating properly.

This is why I hate dealing with NY unemployment. Nothing is ever straightforward or on time. At this point I'm more annoyed about the lack of communication than the delay itself. Just tell us what's happening instead of leaving everyone in the dark!