NYC leaders say President Trump's proposed budget puts city in crosshairs

ByEyewitness News WABC logo
Friday, March 17, 2017
NYC leaders say Trump's budget puts city in crosshairs
Jim Dolan has the story.

NEW YORK (WABC) -- New York City's mayor and police chief spoke out about President Donald Trump's proposed federal budget Thursday, saying the city is in the crosshairs.

There are no final numbers yet, but Mayor Bill de Blasio said Trump's budget cuts could result in:

- At least $100 million in cuts to public schools

- $150 million in cuts to public housing

- Cuts in infrastructure projects like the Second Avenue subway extension

- Cuts in meals on wheels for seniors

- $190 million in cuts to the NYPD's counterterrorism effort.

"Under the president's proposal, nearly all federal funding to the NYPD would be eradicated," Commissioner James O'Neill said. "This funding is absolutely critical. It is the backbone of our entire counterterrorism apparatus."

O'Neill said the funding for anti-terrorism funding pays for highly-trained officers in special units with new canine officers, portable radiation detection equipment and greater fire power.

"It is the cornerstone of effective preparedness and prevention against terrorist threats," O'Neill said.

The commissioner also reached out to social media for support.

The funding is also used by the bomb squad, which dismantled a pressure cooker bomb placed in Chelsea last year.

"NYC remains one of the top terror targets in the world and certainly the No. 1 target in the U.S.," O'Neill said. "The federal government has long acknowledged that fact and cutting this funding would make us increasingly less safe."

The cuts to public housing would have a drastic impact on the residents who live there according to NYCHA's CEO.

"That's money for elevators, and roofs, and exteriors, and windows, bathrooms, kitchens, boilers, you know, things that people need every day just for the basics in living, said Shola Olatoye, NYCHA CEO.