Six months ago City Hall and top NYPD brass slammed the Obama administration for cutting their terror funding. Now they have moved on to Congress, which has failed to vote on the measure. The funding provides crucial counter terrorism equipment and training, and officials say without it New Yorkers will be less safe. Our Courtney Gross has the story.
Hizzoner has an ominous warning.
"If Congress doesn't act there is going to be a lot of happy terrorists in the world because they are going to have a chance to come at us with less of our defenses up," the Mayor said at a press conference Wednesday.
For the second time in six months, the Mayor, Police Commissioner and top city officials called on Congress and the White House to swiftly give New York City counterterrorism funding — $180 million is at stake.
Flanked by three members of Congress, the Mayor and the city's top cop said Washington was letting an appropriations bill languish. It was time for it to move.
"How many conferences have I had with you, the media, talking about this issue that they have to spend so much time urging that they do something," Bratton said. "It's frustrating."
This rebuke came just three days after what some say was a chaotic response at JFK airport to a report of shots fired.
On Sunday night, police searched for a shooter. No one was found. The so-called gunshots were never substantiated.
Now city officials say they need to do a better job coordinating with the Port Authority, who handles security at our airports.
"We all have to do better at the airports," the Mayor said. "There is no question about it."
"There will be a hot wash of this that we will participate in to look at what worked," said Bratton.
The whole incident is currently under review.
For these officials, it may provide more proof the city needs Congress to act.
"This issue is too important to play politics with, and effectively what we are dealing with is politics," the police commissioner said.
Perhaps this debate will affect next year's politics as well. Commissioner Bratton went after a potential mayoral candidate who happens to be President Obama's budget director.
Earlier this year, Shaun Donovan's office had suggested the city failed to spend its terrorism funding, so the Obama administration cut the budget.
"If I were you that is one of the first questions I would ask him. How do you justify cutting $180 million from New York City and 300 million dollars from the country?"