US News

DASH FOR THE CASH

Pandemonium plagued the launch of a state cash-giveaway program yesterday as hordes of low-income New Yorkers swarmed banks and check-cashing offices after hearing a false rumor that they had only one day to retrieve the money.

“Everyone is saying that you have to get the money today or you lose it,” said Emma Cacares, a 51-year-old Harlem resident waiting for more than an hour at a check-cashing spot on 116th Street to access $400 — $200 for each of her two kids — that the state deposited into her account for public assistance and food stamps.

The rumor raced across the city as Gov. Paterson officially announced a $175 million program to provide one-time cash grants for “back-to-school” expenses to all families receiving public assistance or food stamps.

Sharon Philip, waiting on a check-cashing line on 125th Street in Harlem, said employees at a public-assistance program she attends in The Bronx told her the money had to be retrieved that day.

“It’s free money. What are you going to do?” Philip said.

The confusion spread throughout the state.

Rockland County Executive Scott Vanderhoef said, “We received scattered reports of long lines at banks in Munsey and in some other communities made up of persons who believed that the grants would only be available for one day.”

Most of the people interviewed by The Post said they had been told by friends that the money had to be claimed yesterday.

A Paterson spokesman said the cash will actually be available for 90 days and added that the state is taking steps to avoid further confusion, such as sending letters to recipients of the money with details of the program.

As the chaos reigned, Paterson and billionaire financier George Soros officially announced the joint, $175 million program — first reported in The Post — at PS 208 in Harlem.

Soros gave $35 million and the state used $140 million in federal stimulus funds for the program, which provides grants to families of more than 800,000 low-income schoolkids between age 3 and 17.

“We’ve obviously had to cut resources. But you can’t always do it without a conscience,” Paterson said. “Without the most basic services, it will be hard for [schoolchildren] to educate themselves.”

Additional reporting by Fredric U. Dicker and William Gorta

sally.goldenberg@nypost.com