Security Funds For Nonprofits Said on Way
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
The Department of Homeland Security says it is preparing to release $25 million in anti-terrorist funding for New York City nonprofit organizations.
The announcement follows a press conference during which Reps. Anthony Weiner and Carolyn Maloney urged the department to finally make the funds available months after Congress appropriated them.
The department “still hasn’t solicited applications or announced a timeline for when the grants will be distributed” Mr. Weiner, a Democrat of New York, said on Monday. “Once again, the DHS is putting its incompetence on display.”
“We urge you to make sure that there are no further delays, and that the grants are distributed — on the basis of threat — to the places that need it most,” the legislators said in a letter addressed to the homeland security secretary, Michael Chertoff.
The money will go toward helping New York’s cultural, health, and religious institutions fund anti-terrorist initiatives, such as the installment of cameras and barriers in museums and synagogues.
“New York City’s museums, hospitals, and religious institutions are spending millions to protect themselves while DHS ignores Congress and sits critically on needed security funds,” Mr. Weiner said.
The FBI has found that operatives have been sending videos and photographs of targets in New York, including synagogues and Jewish community centers, Mr. Weiner and Ms. Maloney, who is also a Democrat of New York, said. The FBI is also said to have been in contact with Jewish community leaders.
“All Homeland Security has to do is let us have the funds which have been allocated by Congress,” a rabbi from the Park East Synagogue, Arthur Schneier, said. “They have to allocate the funds to give us a sense of security. Prevention is better than a cure.”
In a statement dated July 13, Mr. Chertoff said that he said had “personally directed that these resources be made available and promptly and appropriately allocated.” The department is doing the “necessary legal work” to make the money available, a homeland security press officer, Joanna Gonzalez, said.
Last year, NewYork’s nonprofit organizations received $5.4 million in anti-terrorist funding from the department.
