NEW YORK, USA — New York State has been working to respond to the unprecedented demand in unemployment by launching a new website Friday to try to make that process easier.
2 On Your Side learned Monday that the New York State Department of Labor made 200,000 calls to New Yorkers to close out their applications, but only a percentage of those calls were answered.
"For the public that's listening right now, if a call comes up and you're on that list and it's private, answer it please... Because that is the Department of Labor calling to finish your process," said Melissa DeRosa, secretary to Governor Andrew Cuomo. "So when I say 200,000 calls were made, thats how many attempts, and obviously theres a percentage of that that's connected. The calls, when they've connected, do close out the applications and from what I've heard they've been very successful."
If you started filing on the old website portal you do not need to start over on the new one. State officials say you should hear back in the next few days.