Seeking to capitalize on voters’ concerns about their safety and security, Mayor Bloomberg yesterday proposed a sweeping expansion of the New York Police Department’s powers as part of his pitch for a second term.

The plan, which Mr. Bloomberg described in a 20-minute address delivered overlooking the main concourse of Grand Central Terminal, would turn over to the New York Police Department emergency command and control responsibilities in incidents at bridges, tunnels, and airports, and create new slots on the Port Authority and MTA boards for the police commissioner.

Currently, Port Authority and MTA police respond to incidents at the facilities they control, and the city police can get involved only if their help is solicited.

Pledging not to raise taxes to finance the plan, Mr. Bloomberg also proposed using new technology – including text messaging – to disseminate critical information during emergencies, which he said would help keep New Yorkers safe and aid in crime-solving.

The mayor acknowledged that implementing his proposal wouldn’t be simple. Many of the command and control changes would require the cooperation of multiple agencies and the approval of the governors of both New York and New Jersey. He said, however, that making the changes would be worth it.

“Creating a more streamlined, integrated, and singular system will not be easy. We will have to work through a host of very complex and difficult issues. We all know that,” he said. “But we cannot shrink from the challenge. The stakes are simply too high.”

He said the plan would build on the crime- and terror-fighting gains of his first four years in office. Although the city was forced to reduce its police force by about 3,000 officers, crime is down almost 20% citywide.

The co-chairman of the 9/11 Commission, Thomas Kean, a former governor of New Jersey, joined the mayor yester day to endorse his proposal. He said the commission found that unifying command in emergency situations is an essential element of saving lives.

“It’s going to be difficult but it’s very, very important to do,” he said. “What Mayor Bloomberg is recommending is the very finest example of the implementation of the kind of recommendations we made after two years of study of one of the greatest disasters in our nation’s history.”

He also praised the mayor for aggressively pushing Congress to allocate Homeland Security funds on the basis of risk rather than population. He said Congress’s decision to change the funding formula is “thanks, in large part, to the leadership of this mayor.”

Late yesterday, the House and Senate adopted proposals to allocate funds based on the threat of terrorism, a move Mr. Bloomberg heralded as “a tremendous step in the right direction.”

Civic groups gave the plan positive initial reviews yesterday.

The president of the Citizens Crime Commission, Richard Aborn, said, “I think it’s smart. I think the mayor has taken the lessons of both 9/11 and Katrina, and he’s taking steps to prevent similar things from happening here. He’s also taking his obvious knowledge of technology and applying it to policing, and that’s a smart thing to do.”

Mr. Bloomberg’s Democratic opponent, Fernando Ferrer, had a negative reaction to the plan.

“It took Mike Bloomberg four years to come up with a plan that reads like last week’s episode of ‘CSI,’ ” a Ferrer spokeswoman, Christy Setzer, said, referring to the hit television show. “We’re so glad Bloomberg has discovered cell phone text-messaging and DNA crimesolving, but New York also needs more cops on the streets-yet we have 3,000 fewer under Bloomberg’s watch. New York needs Homeland Security money – but because of Bloomberg’s sheer unwillingness to fight Washington, we get fewer Homeland Security dollars per capita than Vermont or Wyoming.”