Pat Dollard

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Politico:

President Barack Obama travels to lower Manhattan on Thursday afternoon to thank the NYPD for its heroic thwarting of an attempted Times Square bombing — but the photo op may not go according to plan.

The Department of Homeland Security told congressional officials Wednesday that it’s moving to make cuts in planned anti-terror funding to New York City, less than two weeks after cops helped thwart and attempted car bombing in Times Square — an effort the White House has since pinned on the Pakistani Taliban.

The cuts, lawmakers were told, amount to about 25 percent for port security, and another 27 percent for transit security, according to several reports.

The flap came as the FBI swept the Northeast in a string of raids, arresting three people who officials said may have given money to the main suspect in the Times Square case – underscoring the seriousness of the incident that was originally described as a “one-off” event but later pegged by the White House as aided by Pakistani Taliban.

But the White House Thursday morning pushed back strongly and insisted the reports were based on misinformation and were “wrong,” adding that the net funding to New York will actually increase this year over last year.

“The reports are wrong,” said White House spokesman Nick Shapiro of the planned cuts from a specific funding stream, which were initially announced about four months ago. “When all federal funding is totaled, NYC has received a net increase of $47 million for port and transit security over the previous year’s budget, which was signed into law by the Bush Administration.”

Still, New York officials took aim over the issue.

It “just makes no sense at all, particularly in light of recent events,” Sen. Charles Schumer told cable station NY1′s “Inside City Hall.” “The worst nightmare we probably face is some kind nuclear device placed in a container in the ship in the harbor and exploding … we need all the help we can get.”

Schumer criticized the cut, but didn’t blast the president — saying Obama understands the need for the funds and blaming Washington bean-counters.

The actual scope of the cuts wasn’t immediately clear, but the move drew instant backlash from top New York lawmakers and presented poor optics for the president on the eve of his trip.

Pete King said there were suggestions in December that the cuts would be deep, but that the final figures were revealed today in briefings.

“It’s absolutely disgraceful,” he said. “This was bad news … what we can do, though, is press DHS as much as we can.”

Mayor Bloomberg demurred when asked about the cuts by reporters Tuesday, saying he hadn’t been officially informed of anything. But the mayor has been among the chief advocates for maintaining anti-terror funding levels to the city.

Wednesday afternoon, after a stop in Buffalo, Obama made an unannounced visit to NYPD headquarters in lower Manhattan to applaud the police for their work.

“The country is proud of you,” Obama, who was accompanied by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, told the officers.

Before that visit, Bloomberg and Kelly had a private meeting with Obama for about five minutes.

A source said Bloomberg made clear to Obama that the mayor was in solidarity with King and Schumer, who lad the outrage chorus over the DHS cuts.

On May 1, NYPD — responding to a street vendor’s observation that an abandoned sport utility vehicle in Times Square was smoking — intervened in the attemped bombing, which Attorney General Eric Holder last Sunday said was aided by Pakistani Taliban.

DHS insisted Tuesday there was more nuance than was being described by some officials, and that there are actually additions to other programs that even out the apparent cuts.

“DHS is actively engaged in supporting New York City’s first responders and overall preparedness for acts of terrorism and other disasters through an array of grant programs. In 2009, DHS awarded more than $457 million to New York City to prepare for, respond to, and recover from terrorism and other threats,” officials from the agency said in a statement.

“The Recovery Act appropriated $300 million for Port and Transit Security Grant Programs, more than $100 million of which went to the New York City area. In FY 2010, Congress subsequently appropriated fewer dollars for Port and Transit grants as a result of dollars already provided under the Recovery Act.”

But the White House pushed back hard, saying the measure – which had been in the works and which officials were aware of – is being misreported as a “cut” when it really isn’t.

“Those who suggest otherwise are not counting the more than $100 million in port and transit security grants for New York City from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. With that money, the total for NYC will be $245 million, more than $47 million than what was allotted by the Bush Administration in the previous year. In fact, one out of every three recovery dollars for transit and port security went to New York City, making them the largest recipient in the country,” said Shapiro.

He also said there has been an overall port and transit security grant funding hike of 14 percent over the Bush years.