Approximately 9 million New York state households will qualify for more than $22 billion in direct payments, once the $1.9 trillion stimulus package is approved by the House of Representatives this week and signed into law by President Joe Biden, according to Senator Chuck Schumer’s office.

The stimulus payments will be $1,400 for single people who earn $75,000 or below, a head of household earning $112,500 or less, and married couples making $150,000 or below. Those with kids will also receive up to $1,400 for each child. 

For Kizzy Green, 44, that’s $2,800 for herself and her son. And yet, when asked to describe the impact, she said, “It’s basically covering the bare minimum.”

Green said she was furloughed from her administrative job at a college last spring due to the pandemic. She managed to keep paying the rent on her Borough Park apartment but said she maxed out her credit cards and fell behind on other bills. She is still struggling to get by and isn’t impressed by the overall stimulus package.

“It's helping the economy, it's really not helping me personally,” she said.

While some New Yorkers are feeling underwhelmed by the expected stimulus, fiscal watchdogs say it will still benefit many New Yorkers. Doug Turetsky, a spokesman for the city’s Independent Budget Office, said the bill “gets substantial dollars into the hands of lower and middle-income New Yorkers, which will help them as well as bolster city tax collections.”

Based on 2018 data, he said almost 3.2 million tax filers in the city will be eligible for all or part of the stimulus checks. Almost 700,000 are not eligible, including undocumented immigrants, because they do not have Social Security numbers.

But direct payments are just one piece of the stimulus package. It also includes a child tax credit worth up to $300 a month per child and extends unemployment payments of $300 a week until September. And there are billions of dollars to help schools reopen safely, which will help families caring for children re-enter the workforce, said Molly Weston Williamson, director of the paid leave and future of work program at A Better Balance, a non-profit dedicated to working families’ needs.

Williamson said she hopes the stimulus will give working parents more breathing room, “to ensure that they're able to pay their rent, buy food for their kids and buy diapers and really just get over this hump.” She noted that women of color were disproportionately hurt by job losses during the pandemic.

Elizabeth Salcedo, who works in medical billing at a hospital, had a simple answer when asked what she’ll do with her $1,400 check. “I will pay the rent and I will help my mom,” she said, explaining that her mother lost income last year. She was hoping this year’s stimulus payment would be closer to $2,000 because the cost of living is so high in New York.

The extra payments will go a lot farther for New Yorkers who were not hit so hard during the pandemic. Johnny Farmer, 30, who works in construction said he lost a few months' pay last year but is still doing all right because he and his wife were very careful and continued paying their rent.

With three young children, they’re expecting $7,000. He said he’ll put half towards the rent on his Bronx apartment and the rest in the bank, “because me and my wife know how to spend.”

A ferry worker in Brooklyn, who declined to give his name, said he does not need the money because he kept working but welcomes the cash anyway. “I’m just going to put it in the bank,” he said, adding that he might need it later if he loses his job.

But a few New Yorkers do have bigger plans for their stimulus checks. “I’ll put it towards my new car,” said Sae Gordon, 25, who was taking a break from his two jobs on a bench in downtown Brooklyn.

Gordon said he did not qualify for last year’s stimulus because he was still considered a dependent, but he is filing for himself this year. Even though he said he didn’t have a great need for the money, he said everyone should get stimulus aid because “this pandemic is something new to everybody.” 

Azaria Belfon, 33, could not agree more. As a registered nurse in the city’s jails, she said she did not lose any money last year and just bought tickets to take her older child to Disney World for spring break. But she said that does not mean she does not deserve the $4,200 she will collect as a head of household with two children.

“Of course I should be entitled,” she said. “Because during the time that everyone was not working and I was working, they were getting unemployment,” she explained, adding that she also worked while pregnant.

“I didn't get any of that. I didn't even get a raise for my job. The most we got is a thank you. That's it. So I think I am more entitled to that money than anyone else because we got nothing during a pandemic.”

Beth Fertig is a senior reporter covering the city’s recovery efforts at WNYC. You can follow her on Twitter at @bethfertig.