Overview
- The Department of Homeland Security zeroed out a $34 million Transit Security Grant for the MTA, leaving New York as the only one of 21 applicants to receive nothing.
- Manhattan federal Judge Lewis Kaplan issued a temporary restraining order preventing the funds from being disbursed elsewhere while he considers further relief.
- Federal lawyers said New York was denied because the MTA is based in a city designated a Sanctuary Jurisdiction and argued most of the money was already obligated by Oct. 1, claims the state is contesting in court.
- Gov. Kathy Hochul, the MTA, and the NYPD warned the loss would halt planned cameras and access controls, two cybersecurity projects, and hundreds of MTAPD counterterror deployments that support patrols, canine units, and surveillance.
- Separately, the administration’s freeze on $18 billion in reimbursements for the Gateway Tunnel and Second Avenue Subway remains in effect, as Hochul presses President Trump following last week’s restoration of $187 million in other counterterror grants.