New York Demands Trump Release $87 Million in Counterterrorism Funds

The dispute tests whether the federal government will maintain post-September 11 counterterrorism grant structures for the nation's largest city amid ongoing political friction between Albany,...

Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani jointly called on President Trump on September 1, 2026, to release $87 million in federal funds designated for counterterrorism operations in New York, including bomb squad units and related public safety programs, according to reporting by The New York Times.

The $87 million figure represents federal counterterrorism grant money that Hochul and Mamdani say has been withheld by the Trump administration. The specific grant program or appropriations line from which the funds originate was not identified by name in the Times report. The federal agency responsible for disbursing the funds, and the formal mechanism of any hold, would be detailed in the relevant grant award documents or a Treasury or Department of Homeland Security disbursement record, neither of which had been made public as of September 1, 2026.

Hochul framed the withholding of the funds as a failure to honor commitments made to New York in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, describing the action as a betrayal of victims of that day. Mamdani joined Hochul in the public statement, marking one of the first joint federal funding demands between the governor and the new mayor since Mamdani took office.

The White House had not responded publicly to the demand as of the publication of this report. The Department of Homeland Security, which administers the Homeland Security Grant Program and the Urban Area Security Initiative, programs that historically have directed counterterrorism funds to New York City, had not issued a statement on the status of the $87 million.

New York City has historically been among the largest recipients of federal counterterrorism grants. Under the Urban Area Security Initiative, administered by FEMA within DHS, New York has received hundreds of millions of dollars since the program's creation after September 11. The FY2025 Urban Area Security Initiative allocated $615 million nationally, according to FEMA public records. New York City's share of that allocation for FY2025 is listed in FEMA grant records but had not been cross-referenced against the $87 million figure in dispute as of this report.

The standoff follows a pattern of fiscal disputes between the Trump administration and Democratic-led states and cities. Multiple federal funding holds affecting Democratic jurisdictions have been the subject of litigation in 2025 and 2026, with courts issuing varying rulings on the executive branch's authority to condition or delay congressionally appropriated grants. The legal precedents governing such holds remain unsettled, as reflected in ongoing federal court proceedings.

Bomb squads and counterterrorism units are typically funded through a combination of city, state, and federal sources. If the federal portion is delayed or reduced, the gap would need to be covered through either state appropriations, city budget reallocation, or a reduction in operational capacity. Neither Hochul's office nor the Mayor's office had specified as of September 1 what operational impact the funding delay had already caused.

The timing of the demand, coinciding with the approach of the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks in 2026, adds a political dimension to a dispute that is at its core a question of federal grant disbursement procedure. Whether the funds have been formally rescinded, placed under administrative review, or simply delayed in processing is not yet established in any public document.

What remains unknown is the specific DHS or FEMA grant award number associated with the $87 million, the date on which disbursement was expected, the formal reason given by the federal government for any hold, and whether any legal action has been filed by New York State or New York City to compel release of the funds. A FOIA request to DHS and FEMA for grant disbursement records related to New York City's FY2025 and FY2026 counterterrorism allocations would establish those facts.