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This story was originally published by Healthbeat. Sign up for their public health newsletters at healthbeat.org/newsletters .

New York City’s bodegas have long been hailed as good neighbors, small mom-and-pop institutions that provide basic food items, like milk and eggs, in a pinch. They’re often vital community resources in neighborhoods ignored by traditional supermarket chains.

Now, as thousands of New Yorkers who shop at these stores lose food benefits due to federal rule changes, some bodega owners are worried about their stores’ survival.

About 26,500 New Yorkers recently lost access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, under new federal work requirements tied to President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax and spending package , H.R. 1. For many, that means about $200 less a month to spend on food, a loss that could have an outsized effect on the city’s small grocery stores. SNAP purchases generally make up 15% to 20% of a bodega’s revenue, depending on the number of recipients in the neighborhood, said Francisco Marte, president and founder of the Bodega and Small Business Group.

At a corner bodega on the Grand Concourse, a thoroughfare that cuts through the heart of the Bronx, Yomary Pichardo said SNAP benefits make up as much as 30% of her revenue. Her store sits on the ground floor of an apartment building in the Tremont neighborhood, where bodegas outnumber supermarkets. About 44% of residents in the area rely on SNAP benefits, according to city data.

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Pichardo said it’s too soon to see the full impact on her store, but she expects the fallout to be significant as fewer shoppers pay with Electronic Benefits Transfer cards, or EBT.

“If I didn’t accept EBT, I’d be forced to close the store,” Pichardo said from behind the counter, her face framed by a clear partition stocked with candy bars, gum, cough drops and toothpaste. Cardboard boxes holding plantains, red onions and potatoes sat nearby at the entrance.

The new work requirements took effect March 1 and gave certain SNAP recipients ages 18 to 64 three months to comply before losing assistance. Some recipients began losing benefits in June after failing to meet the requirements. As of Oct. 1, they can reapply for SNAP benefits.

Of the 26,500 people who lost SNAP benefits, 40% involved Brooklyn residents and 26% involved Bronx residents, according to the Department of Social Services. Slightly more than half involved single adults between the ages of 18 and 35, with men accounting for nearly 6 in 10 case closings.

The Bronx has the city’s highest share of residents relying on SNAP, at 33%, followed by Brooklyn at 22%, according to city data. About 14% of residents in Queens and Staten Island rely on the benefits, along with 13% in Manhattan.

Although the Bronx qualifies for an exemption from Medicaid work requirements because of its high unemployment rate, that exemption does not apply to SNAP, which has separate rules, a spokesperson for the New York State Department of Health told Healthbeat.

The law is also shifting more of the cost of administering SNAP to state and local governments. New York City — where 1.8 million residents rely on the benefits — expects to absorb nearly $111 million in additional costs.