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Oh, it's New York City's best friend, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, writing a NY Times op-ed piece to tell us "New York, You're Still No. 1." Well, that's the headline the Times copy crew designated for the article, which is Chertoff's way fo explaining why NYC got shafted in funding allocation for the Urban Areas Security Initiative. We outline his points:
- NY still gets the most funding; in fact, its $124 million for this year is 50% more than Los Angeles, which gets the second most moneyOkay, many of these points are fair, but we do think that when the city pays about $10.9 billion more in federal taxes than we get back from federal spending, our agencies needs more resources. And Gothamist thinks it's totally fair for our politicians and newspapers to make a big deal about the cut in funding, as getting 40% less than last year (yes, yes, other cities are getting less) is news. If anything, Chertoff's duty as the Secretary of Homeland Security is to really convince the President of how important the funding is, and then have the President push his Republican-led Congress to help out Homeland Security initiatives more.
- Congress gave the DHS $125 million less for grants (underlying suggestion: Congress needs the ass-kicking you're giving me)
- NYC still gets 18% of all UAS funds this year; in past year, NYC got 19%
- DHS wants less prepared cities to have new equipment, as heightened national security helps NYC
- The Empire State Building and Brooklyn Bridge were not classifed as national monuments or icons, because they were classified into categories that would give the city a "higher complete risk grade" in the proposal
- The DHS tried not to be political about things!
And Mayor Bloomberg says that the city will continue what it's been doing to fight terror: "We're going to do what we think is right, and if the burden falls solely on the taxpayers of New York City, that's not good. But in the end, our No. 1 priority is to provide security, and I would argue that the level of expertise in the city, in all of the different first-responder agencies, is as good as anyplace you'll find in the world."
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From an editorial in today's Observer:
(http://www.observer.com/20060612/20060612___opinions_editorials.asp)
"The Department of Homeland Security says it is unimpressed with the New York Police Department’s anti-terrorism strategies. Rather than the NYPD’s current Operation Atlas—in which hundreds of extra police officers work daily around the city on anti-terrorism squads—Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and the anonymous panel members who determined the federal spending said the city should be using that money instead to buy better gas masks and other gadgetry. Such a technology-intensive strategy may favor the Republican vendors who sell such equipment, but it is often irrelevant in preventing terrorist attacks. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has won high praise and worldwide admiration for the way his department has kept the city safe from attack over the past five years. That Mr. Chertoff would presume to tell Ray Kelly how to do his job is laughable."
I can't say it any better than that.
Unless, of course, after the War in Iraq, after Katrina, and after the hunt for Bin Laden, the Bush Administration wouldn't know a good job if it bit them.
You bring up a really good point Tim. The fact that this administration which demonstrates it's utter incompetence and cronyism with frightening regularity has the nerve to criticize a department as successful as the NYPD is shocking at best and self deluding at worst. I say self-deluding at worst because if an organization like the DHS is unwilling to learn from it's mistakes out of ignorance or arrogance then the entire country is at imminent mortal risk whether from man made disasters or natural disasters.
otoh, its not like we have some super magic special right for the rest of the country to pay for us to live here independent of the risks. we benefit the most by living here, we should foot most of the bill, -and- it will allow us to have policies that make sense for our unique situations instead of being dictated from washington.
don't get me wrong it is obviously part of the fed's responsibility to help protect us from international, or even interstate, threats, but i'm not so sure that's as great as domestic ones these days (like toronto or herald square plots.) and yes - i realize that a 'terrorism tax' on the city is scary and can have long last cultural effects: http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com/globalguerrillas/2004/12/state_failure_c.html
And you guys will bash the NYPD at the next convenient opportunity. You'll flip-flop and say their bad performance is the result of 12 years of Republican mayors. You guys are that predictable.
As for the tax issue, I've said it before and nobody responds: Of course New York pays more in taxes than is spent here. There are hardly any Federal installations in New York. Think of all of the government agencies from which you derive some benefit. Even if we forget about the military what about agencies like the FDA, CDC, FAA, etc. I don't think they have major offices here.
One thing to remember in all this is that the 9/11 attacks on NYC were pulled-off by guys who learned how to fly in Venice, FL and got on board airplanes in Portland, ME, neither what you'd call a booming metropolis. So, in many repsects, the whole system is only as strong as its weakest link. Depressing, actually.
not I, I always bash the NYPD.
how come only 2 comments in the Mafia cops post?
still we wide.
Equating Chertoff with Hitler in your picture is one of the stupidest and most offensive things you guys have ever done.
I don't like the guy either, but make him look like Skeletor or something instead. Seriously... you're like school on Sunday.
wow, that image brings an all new level of immaturity to this site.
also, see: Godwin's Law
On the taxes issue again, how is that Gothamist links to its own previous post as evidence. And that that post contains lovely Powerpoint slides provided by the Mayor's office but no actualy source for the data. Does anyone know how this number is actually calculated? If it is simply raw data of tax returns for New York residents and businesses vs dollars granted to New York by the Federal government (or spent by the Federal Government in New York) is that truly meaningful?
If the Feds subsidize a natural gas pipeline that runs from Texas or Lousiana to New Jersey to ultimately produce electricity for New Yorkers shouldn't that count as spending on behalf of New York?
It certainly is interesting that the same people that fill up the comments section on critical mass rides aren't here today proclaiming how great it is the NYPD took a hit in the pocketbook. So, I guess cops aren't all bad all the time, huh? Maybe we should try to remember that on the 30th when we can't figure out why the cops might be pissed off at a bunch of people spitting in their faces, taking over the streets, and "keying some cars" as a poster about the last CM wrote.
yeah, the little hitler mustache is very inappropriate. i don't like the guy but stiffing a city on some federal funding is hardly the same as a war crime and killing millions of people.
change the picture, gothamist.
Scout -
This has nothing to do with CM. In fact, the city is the one taking dollars away from better purposes such as pursuing terrorists to instead beat the crap out of cyclists.
Stop trying to troll around and get people worked up over an un-related issue.
not surprising that DHS would recommend spending money on technology instead of deployment of extra personnel. The Republicans have sought to use the so called "war on terror" as an economic booster given their complete lack of competence in addressing domestic economic and social issues, and mostly as a siphon to pump tax money to their corporate allies, Halliburton being the most well known example after they "won" a no bid contract to rebuild Iraq.
They learned this tactic from the equally disingenuously named "war on drugs"; they couldnt really care any less about the actual issues or their solutions, they are only concerned with profits for the lobbyists and corporations that donate to their re-election campains. They know full well that these are "wars" that cannot really be won, but are perpetual, and therefore perpetually profitable (as long the American public are stupid enough to play along, which they are). Its disgusting.
Everything is a catch 22. If the city doesn't spend some money on better technology such as masks they are opening themselves up to another massive lawsuit when the next attack comes.
And the numbers show that government spending rises fastest when Congress and the White House are held by the same party. So if you get your wish in the elections of 2006 and 2008 you'll get to see the Democrats muck it all up.
SATAN- I could care less who gets worked up. My point was that comments on this website are most often anti-NYPD (citing the CM posts as a glaring example of this). I just think it's funny that now that people can blame the White House, they all of a sudden aren't bitching about the NYPD, they are supporting them.
Scout - What people?? I think I've seen 4 or 5 rapidly anti-NYPD people here and 4 or 5 rapidly pro-NYPD people. Neither group can be swayed one way or the other, and you've made a lame extrapolation from those few posts. Give it a rest.
SATAN-
For starters, I believe the word you are looking for is rabid not rapid, and extrapolation, while a nice long word, doesn't really describe what I was doing either.
Scout - sorry for the misspelling of rapid, but that doesn't excuse the fact that you're still an idiot.
Ack - misspelled rabid again. Guess I'm an idiot too...oh well.
yes, you probably mean "rabidly" (rapidly means fast)
oh, and "stupidest" is not proper englsih either, you should have written "most stupid"
Equating Chertoff with Hitler in your picture is one of the stupidest and most historicaly offensive things you have ever done. You should have equated him with Himler as he was in an equivlant post. If you were using a picture of President Cheney (a subsidary of Haliburton) a Hitler equation Doesn't anyone know their history anymore?
[13] economic problems? where do you live, france? the economy is growing as fast as we were in the late 90s.
When this entry was first posted, this morning, it had a typo. "Los Angeles" was, then, "Los Angelese."
Gothamist IS CORRECTING ITS SPELLING ERRORS. O!M!G! Screw this Homeland Security $$$: The apolcalypse is upon us. Everybody leave work, get drunk, have sex in the streets.
youre kidding right? ever heard of inflation? rising interest rates? Highest trade and budget deficits ever? Near record highs in energy costs? Not to mention the worst medical and public education systems in the developed world... If you think this economy is in good shape, I have a bridge to sell you.
s,
but I bet the medical and healthcare systems were fantastic back between 1993 and 2000. It all depends on your perspective I guess.
I'm guessing that you're the kind of person that adjusts your statistics for whatever suits your argument.
And inflation and interest rates are coming up off of 50 year lows. you didn't really think it would last forever did you?
Consider Chertoff's op-ed piece just some Washington cheese and crackers to go with New York's whine.
Seriously, folks, this is Civics 101, nothing more. As Big Savvy Cityfolk, y'all should be able to grasp basic concepts like when the pie gets smaller, that's on Congress, not the agency that ends up with less program money to pass along to states and locals. Duh. I mean, come on people, when was the last time you saw an agency head ask the legislature for LESS money for his/her programs?!? Agencies set their priorities, submit their requests to OMB for incorporation into the President's budget proposal, and cross their fingers that once it comes back from the Hill after being "massaged" by the lobbyists and special interests, it'll still bear some resemblance to what was requested. It's called "the budget process" -- perhaps you've heard of it?
The REAL irony is that New York's own Rep. Pete King was braying at DHS louder than anyone else. As Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, he's in a position not just to know exactly how all this stuff works (making his "advocacy" for NYC disingenuous) but also to influence the size of the pie. He's got at least as much say in how much money NYC ends up with as Chertoff does, so New Yorkers should be asking HIM, not Chertoff, to explain the reduction in dollars. Looks that mean ol' Congressman pulled th' wool over your eyes with his wily Washington ways, suckering y'all into getting all righteously indignant at the wrong folks. Doh!
I'm not Chertoff's biggest fan, to be sure, but New Yorkers came off looking arrogant, self-absorbed, and just plain stupid in front of the rest of the class. Here's hoping all the crybabies feel as dumb now as they sounded last week...
I am completely convinced that reading Gothamist is making me dumber. I never used to make as many spelling and grammar mistakes as I do when I post comments here. I think I'll just go back to reading the paper until Gothamist can get an intern who can spell.