In the last 25 years, New York has faced more terrorism than any other city in the country. We’ve dealt with an array of lone wolf attacks and thwarted plots in the quarter-century since 9/11, thanks in no small part to the strength of the NYPD Counterterrorism Bureau and its close work with the federal government.
So naturally, President Trump, himself a former New Yorker, wants to cut $187 million in federal funding for counterterrorism efforts in New York.
At the same time, he’s also taking the budget ax to $18 billion in transportation improvements — mainly the Hudson River Tunnel Project to improve Amtrak and NJ Transit service, and the Second Avenue Subway extension to East Harlem.
The reason? According to Trump’s budget director Russell Vought, it’s because New York state government supports DEI initiatives that the White House considers “unconstitutional.” DEI — a bogeyman buzzword used by the far right to scare voters — refers to “diversity, equity, and inclusion” programs that help more Americans achieve opportunities previously denied them because of their faith, race, gender, or other backgrounds.
No other president in recent history has ever acted with such petty disdain for New York, the economic capital of both America and the world, as to deliberately jeopardize funding to keep it safe from terror and economically strong through public improvements.
Forget about the economic harm we face here; what about the economic harm that America could face?
Last year, New York state sent more than $320 billion in tax dollars to the federal government; a large chunk of that came from New York City residents. The state received about $87 billion less in federal funding. Our tax dollars support programs in other parts of the country, distributed between red and blue states.
If our economy is weakened for any reason — such as a terrorist attack that sends the stock markets plummeting or a massive derailment in the Hudson River tunnels that paralyzes transit up and down the Eastern Seaboard — New York won’t be the only one feeling the impacts. The ripple effect would be felt nationwide, in businesses large and small, in states red and blue. The suffering would be mutual.
Our leaders must push back against the penny-dumb, pound-foolish, and overtly petty effort by President Trump and his administration to defund New York. If he continues to withhold federal funds for the things New York needs the most, then New York must seek to withhold funds we contribute to the federal government.
