New York police, counterterrorism cuts reversed by Trump administration, Hochul says

A massive cut to federal counterterrorism funding for police on Long Island and in New York City has been reversed, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Friday.

"I’m glad President [Donald] Trump heard our call and reversed course, ensuring our state has the resources necessary to support law enforcement and keep our families safe," Hochul said in a news release.

State officials said earlier this week that New York faced a $187 million cut to grants that have funded counterterrorism, bomb squads, K-9 and tactical units and other work in New York City and on Long Island since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

Hochul called the restoration "a victory for public safety and for every New Yorker who depends on our brave law enforcement and first responders to keep our state secure."

In a statement Friday afternoon, a FEMA spokesperson said "While FEMA's initial allocation fully met program requirements, after consultation with federal partners and in recognition of our critical security partnership with New York," the agency would make the funding available. 

The White House and Department of Homeland Security, FEMA's parent department, did not comment. The New York Times reported the restoration Friday morning, citing administration officials.

A state official briefed on a "lengthy" phone call Sunday night between Hochul and Trump said the governor told the president the cuts would undermine his stated commitment to public safety. The official said Trump seemed unaware of the cuts and told Hochul he would investigate.

Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport), chairman of the powerful House Homeland Security Committee, in an interview Friday said the restoration came after a week of phone calls and letters from the state's elected officials to the White House Office of Legislative Affairs and to DHS. 

The cuts appeared to stem from changes to grant funding formulas made to take into account threats from drug cartels, Garbarino said. He said he had not gotten a response to a letter sent to DHS asking for a full explanation of the awards process. 

"The cuts today got reversed because of presidential involvement," Garbarino said. "I think there are people at lower levels making some of these decisions that are improper."

It was unclear if cuts to other states had also been reversed, he said. New York City, he said, remains a high profile target, all the more so because next year the metropolitan region will host soccer's World Cup, a Tall Ships festival for the nation's 250th birthday and commemorations for the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

"We are all American citizens and everybody needs to be protected, not just Republicans or Democrats," Garbarino said.

The restoration comes as the state's elected officials face significant threats to federal funding on other fronts, including $18 billion earmarked for projects involving the Second Avenue Subway extension and the Gateway Tunnel, the Hudson River rail tunnel that would connect New York City to New Jersey. In that matter, state officials had accused Trump of using New York as a "pawn" in the federal budget standoff. 

Friday's restoration followed a federal judge's temporary restraining order Tuesday to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to rescind the drastically slashed federal counterterror funding award notifications made through the 2025 Homeland Security Grant Program and not to reallocate any grant funds appropriated by Congress. Attorneys general from close to a dozen Democratic states, including New York State Attorney General Letitia James, had sued in Rhode Island. 

The cuts threatened millions in funding used by Nassau and Suffolk police departments for bomb squads, tactical units and other purposes, Hochul's office said earlier this week.

A spokesman for the NYPD said in an email earlier this week the department would have lost $79 million in funding, 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." 

State and city officials from both parties and police officials vehemently opposed earlier attempts to reduce counterterrorism funds for the city. 

In 2016, Sen. Chuck Schumer, Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford) and others slammed a budget proposal by the Obama White House they said would have cut $90 million from city counterterrorism funding. The cuts did not stand. 

Schumer wrote on social media that "Donald Trump tried to target New York with these cuts, and we fought back and won. He saw the writing on the wall: his public safety cuts were illegal, dangerous, and wrong. We’re going to keep fighting." 

Public safety authorities said the reversal would restore funds critical to their work. "These federal funds are the backbone of our [counterterrorism] program, and the proposed cuts would have had a devastating impact on our capabilities," said NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who thanked a roster of elected officials — New York City Mayor Eric Adams, the governor, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island) and "the entire New York delegation." 

Jackie Bray, commissioner of New York's Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, said in a statement Friday that the White House "has rightly decided to reverse" cuts that would have "courted disaster and put lives at risk." The restored funds will go toward training, equipment and tools for police, firefighters and public safety authorities, she said. 

Newsday's Laura Figueroa Hernandez contributed to this story.