NYC Mayor Wants More Anti-Terror Funding

June 5, 2004 -- Charging that anti-terror aid has become a congressional "slush fund," Mayor Bloomberg yesterday called on President Bush and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge to speak out in favor of New York getting a fairer share. "There's no question the president should be a leader here," Bloomberg said. "I'm certainly the first one to urge him to do so."

On his weekly radio show, Bloomberg also urged Ridge to get into the act to help the city.

"This is the time for Tom Ridge to stand up and say enough of this craziness," Bloomberg said, referring to New York being shortchanged in favor of rural areas. "He's got to be out there screaming."

Bloomberg has for months been railing against Congress over the formula for doling out homeland-security funds, which provides big bucks to non-urban areas that experts believe are at little risk of attack.

Sarcastically saying that "everybody's got a threat," Bloomberg specifically blasted the decision to expand from seven to 50 the number of cities eligible for funding from the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI)