Gov. Hochul is demanding the Trump administration immediately reverse a shocking 86% cut in funding for antiterrorism programs in New York, including crucial NYPD programs that have thwarted terror attacks.
The approximately $187 million in planned cuts implemented by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem include a $100 million cut to the NYPD, $15 million slashed from the FDNY, and a projected $13 million cut to Joint Task Force Empire Shield.
“A Republican administration … walking away from the fight against terrorism in the No. 1 terrorist target in America is utterly shocking,” Hochul said in a statement.
Trump’s Department of Homeland Security now plans no projected funding for any of New York State’s 12 certified bomb squads and will implement millions of dollars in cuts that directly support counties, sheriffs and police departments, Hochul said.
The Port Authority, which runs New York and New Jersey’s airports, bridges and tunnels and suffered a massive hit from the Sept. 11 terror attacks, is taking a $9 million cut.
The funding in question is provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency through the Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP), which supports local law enforcement and regional homeland security preparedness efforts.
New York agencies were expecting to receive close to $220 million in the coming year. Instead they will get around $30 million.
In a letter to Noem, Hochul is demanding restoration of the cuts, along with an explanation of how federal money was divvied up between the states.
“I call upon you to be transparent with what appears to be a politically motivated effort to reduce funding for New York,” Hochul wrote. “This decision serves only to make not just New York but all of America more vulnerable to terrorist attacks.”
New York and a group of 11 other Democratic-led states sued Monday in a federal court in Rhode Island to block the cuts.
DHS hasn’t responded to criticism of the cuts or the lawsuit.
Noem previously has vowed to cut off as much federal funding as possible to states that oppose Trump’s crackdown on undocumented immigration.
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