Unemployment, not retirement.

But that's not the only issue: The bank also has higher withdrawal limits for unemployment recipients than other in-network ATMs, so if you need to access the money right after it's paid out for a big expense like rent, you essentially must use this ATM

At the end of the article, it was stated that there are other in-network ATMs available -- around 100 per borough -- but that fact wasn't made abundantly clear to recipients. Those ATMs do have lower transaction limits, but it's possible to use back-to-back transactions to withdraw the full amount.

it feels more like a communication issue,

the branch could have also just posted a notice on the board that other ATMs may be used