By Forum Staff
Governor Kathy Hochul on Thursday called out Washington pols for cutting safety and security funding for New York’s mass transit system.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority had been slated to receive $34 million in federal Transit Security Grant Program funds, which support essential counter-terror and transit security functions. Earlier this month, lawmakers were notified that the MTA was to be the only agency of 21 applicants nationwide to not receive federal security dollars via this program.
The Transit Security Grant Program was started after Sept. 11, 2001. Administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, these grants support critical functions to keep mass transit systems safe from security threats. The MTA carries a significant portion of the United States’ mass transit riders, with over 6 million daily trips taken on Metro-North, the Long Island Rail Road, and New York City Transit.
In addition to approximately $12 million which would go to the NYPD, the MTA had planned to utilize this year’s grant funding to support the following public safety and counter-terror investments:
- Two cybersecurity projects, extending cyber visibility into MTA’s key systems, and a cyber lab to develop protections and vet operational technology systems.
- The procurement and deployment of approximately 330 tactical cellular cameras to replace and expand upon current unsecure offline devices in a cost-effective manner.
- The expansion of MTA weapons of mass destruction chemical detection system across nine subway lines and a commuter rail terminal.
- The Transportation Security Administration mandated frontline security awareness training of 16,000 MTA employees.
- 374 deployments of MTAPD counterterrorism teams.
- The procurement of three MTAPD counterterrorism coordination and response vehicles.
- The installation of several hundred cameras, access control points, and laser intrusion detection systems at a major subway complex.
Following initial reporting that the MTA would not receive Transit Security Grant Program funding, the Office of the State Attorney General filed suit in the Southern District of New York, which issued a Temporary Restraining Order barring FEMA from executing the cuts. To date, FEMA has not formally notified the MTA that their funding has been restored.
“Since 9/11, New York has relied on federal support to ensure that our transit system has the counterterrorism resources it needs to keep millions of riders safe every single day,” Hochul said. “The shocking actions of Washington Republicans to slash these funds and defund the police put New York City at risk. We will not tolerate these cuts; New York will take every action available to us — including the courts — to ensure the MTA gets this critical funding to keep millions of riders safe.”
Earlier this month, Hochul successfully fought to restore $187 million in critical counterterrorism and homeland security funding cuts which had been planned by the Department of Homeland Security.
“The NYPD’s counterterrorism operations are essential to keeping people safe both above ground and below ground on our subways,” said City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch. “Withholding these critical funds from the busiest transit system in the country is a profound mistake, and one that will make New York City’s subways meaningfully less safe. Counterterrorism operations – and public safety in general – cannot be politicized, and I thank Governor Hochul for her efforts to ensure the NYPD has the resources it needs to protect New Yorkers.”
