WASHINGTON (AP) – The Pataki administration moved Tuesday to restore some of the millions of dollars New York City and Buffalo recently lost in federal anti-terror money, cobbling together other funds in Albany to make up for some of what Washington won’t be sending.

The decision by Gov. George Pataki comes after the Department of Homeland Security announced in May that it would reduce New York City’s share of security money for cities from $207 million to $124 million and cut Buffalo’s share from $7.2 million to $3.7 million, state officials said.

Buffalo’s 48.6 percent reduction, combined with the 40 percent cut to New York City, brought howls of protest from lawmakers at both ends of the state, but DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff resisted demands to change the numbers.

The new state package would likely provide about $700,000 more to Buffalo and may mean as much as $25 million more for New York City.

“The Western New York region is vital to our state and national economy, serving as a major economic and transportation hub and a major gateway to America,” Pataki said in announcing the replacement funding.

Rep. Thomas Reynolds, a Republican whose district extends from the Buffalo suburbs to the Rochester suburbs, praised the move as an “immediate fix to an immediate problem.”

“The governor again has answered western New York’s call and my personal plea, and now we need to continue looking at the long term,” said Reynolds, who said he would keep pushing federal officials to take the area’s proximity to the border into account when it doles out anti-terror grant money.

The program to aid cities, called the Urban Area Security Initiative, or UASI, lost funding from Congress this year, but New York City and Buffalo absorbed a disproportionately large share of the cuts.

Under the UASI program, the state receives 20 percent of the total in grant money. Pataki’s announcement means that the state’s share, which in past years has been distributed around the state, will be directed specifically to New York City, Buffalo and their surrounding suburbs.

For Buffalo, that should mean about $740,000 and could amount to nearly $25 million for New York City.

Separately, the state will send some $2.2 million in state homeland security funds to the Buffalo area, officials said.

The $3.5 million cut to Buffalo’s anti-terror programs angered local officials who argue the city’s proximity to a busy northern border crossing make it a tempting target for terrorists.

That anger only increased a few days later when Canadian authorities arrested 17 people in what authorities said was a foiled plot hatched in Ontario to bomb several Canadian buildings.

“Recent events make it clear that the decision by the Department of Homeland Security to place the Buffalo urban area in the low-risk category is flat-wrong,” Pataki said in announcing his plans Tuesday.