Schumer: Need to boost fed security grant fund to protect houses of worship

U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer said Wednesday he'll seek more security funding for houses of worship on Long Island and nationwide after a hostage crisis at a Texas synagogue and other recent acts of intolerance.

During a news conference at Young Israel of Woodmere, Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the federal Not-for-Profit Security Grant Program should be doubled in the next budget to $360 million. The increase will allow more temples, mosques and churches to shore up security at their facilities, he said.

Program funding can be used for fortified doors and windows, surveillance cameras and contracted security.

"We know these federal funds save lives and can keep the focus on prayers," Schumer said. "When people are praying and convening with God, you don't need to be looking over your shoulder to worry if something bad is happening."

The request is not without precedent. Funding for the security-grant program doubled from $90 million in 2020 to $180 million last year, with about 23% of the allocated money going to religious institutions in New York State, according to Schumer.

But demand for the money continues to outstrip supply, he said. More than 2,000 not-for-profit religious institutions have applied for grants since the program's inception but only about half have secured funding.

Girish Patel, a leader at the BAPS Hindu temple in Melville, plans to seek grant money again after coming up short in recent years.

"We are definitely looking forward to applying for funding to secure our facilities so that people that come there with their families and children, looking for spiritual help, feel safe," he said.

Long Islanders experienced an increase in acts of religious discrimination last year, including vandalism at the Islamic Center of Suffolk County in Brentwood; trash and human waste tossed into a mosque in Hicksville, the attack of a Sikh boy in Huntington, and the assault of a Jewish man from Lawrence in Times Square.

"Security funding for all faith communities is no longer a luxury but it is now an absolute and urgent necessity," said Rabbi Shay Schachter, of Young Israel of Woodmere, which has received $125,000 in grant funds for armed security guards, bulletproof windows and cameras.

The ongoing threat was on vivid display Jan. 15 at a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas. A man demanding the release of a Pakistani neuroscientist, convicted of trying to kill U.S. Army officers in Afghanistan, took four hostages. After an hourslong standoff, the hostages were able to get out of the synagogue safely and the hostage taker was dead from a gunshot wound, authorities said.

Scott Richman, director of the Anti-Defamation League for New York and New Jersey, said last year was among the highest on record for anti-Semitic incidents.

"This is surely enough to make us fearful," he said. "But if that fear means we will stop attending synagogues or other Jewish institutions, then the terrorists or anti-Semites have won. That would be the worst outcome."

Facilities expected to apply for funding this year include the Islamic Center of Long Island, Union Baptist Church of Hempstead and First Baptist Cathedral of Westbury.

"When you have to fortify the sanctuary, it becomes an expensive endeavor," said Bishop Lionel Harvey, pastor of the First Baptist Cathedral. "This is going to help so many that need the type of security; who need the type of protection that will give us the sense of peace in the place that should always be peaceful."

With AP

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.