New York’s Unemployment Claims System Still Doesn’t Work Thousands of state residents needed to reapply for unemployment benefits after their one-year mark, once again overwhelming the state’s system, leaving claimants without answers or benefits. Michelle Breidenbach, syracuse.com | April 5, 2021 | News (TNS) — New York’s website to sign up for unemployment benefits still doesn’t work. One year after hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers jammed the state’s system with new claims, the state continues to leave people stranded without benefits for weeks and months. There’s a new pileup as people reach the one-year anniversary of the coronavirus shutdown that put them out of work last March. The state requires some people to reapply, but not others. They mostly have to sort it out for themselves. It’s confusing.