By Hank Russell
Governor Kathy Hochul has sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem demanding that her agency to make funding available to state and local governments through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP). The state has received funding every year since 2002.
HSGP provides states, local jurisdictions and their law enforcement, public safety, homeland security and emergency management officials with critical resources to further their preparedness and response capabilities. In 2024, New York received $219.9 million in HSGP funding, $156.1 million of which was allocated through the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) for jurisdictions in the New York City Metro Area, principally the New York Police Department. In 2023, New York received $244.7 million with $173.9 million allocated through UASI.
In a letter to Noem, Hochul said she was “deeply troubled that DHS has yet to make funding available,” adding that New York “face[s] the nation’s most diverse threat landscape” and, because the state has numerous economic, governmental, and recreational assets, it remains the nation’s top target for terrorism.”
Hochul noted that the DHS recently sent out an advisory warning of cyberattacks on U.S. networks by pro-Iranian hacktivists and cyber actors affiliated with the Iranian government. These bad actors may also target U.S. government officials they claim were responsible for the death of an Iranian military commander killed in January 2020.
“As home to the country’s largest economic center, and the largest Jewish community outside of Israel, these threats put New York communities at a greater risk than perhaps anywhere else in the nation,” Hochul said. “Thankfully, since your agency’s inception, New York and DHS have maintained a strong partnership to counter these threats. This partnership has been essential to ensure that the State and local governments and their public safety agencies have the funding and resources needed to prepare for, mitigate, prevent and withstand terrorist threats and targeted violence.”
Without these resources, Hochul said, first responders and frontline emergency management operation teams will be unable to access state-of-the-art training, the latest advancements in equipment and the ability to seamlessly share and analyze intelligence with each other.
“Any further delays in the availability of HSGP will degrade the capabilities of our nation to prevent terrorism and make us less safe at a time when the variety and severity of security threats continue to grow,” Hochul said.
Long Island Life & Politics reached out to the DHS and did not hear back as of press time.