The Trump administration’s shocking cuts in funding for antiterrorism programs in New York will gut crucial NYPD programs that have thwarted planned terror attacks, the department said.
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, the office of Gov. Kathy Hochul said. The NYPD later said the cut to their budget was closer to $80 million.
“The NYPD has one of the most sophisticated counterterrorism and intelligence operations in the world, and we’ve uncovered, investigated, and thwarted hundreds of plots over the years to keep New York City and the entire country safe,” the NYPD said in a statement.
“This loss of funding is a devastating blow to our capabilities and our efforts to protect all Americans from terrorist attacks. This decision is incredibly dangerous and will leave us exposed at a moment when our threat environment needs us more than ever. ”
Gov. Hochul is demanding Trump reverse the cuts.
“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.
There are numerous examples of attacks thwarted through the NYPD’s anti-terrorism efforts.
In July, an ex-con living in Long Island was indicted for allegedly building at least seven bombs and placing them on the Williamsburg Bridge.
In September 2024, a Pakistani national was busted in Canada and accused of plotting to kill “as many Jews as possible” in Brooklyn.
Seven months before that, in February, a naturalized U.S. citizen living in Minnesota, was charged with supporting a terrorist organization in Manhattan federal court, He allegedly rapped about flying to “shoot New York up” after training with ISIS in his nativee Somalia.
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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