New York City announced Thursday that it will join Seattle and Portland in challenging the Trump administration’s decision to withhold funds from “anarchist jurisdictions.”
NYC Corporation attorney James Johnson said: “We are bringing this action because they took real action – they actually took that ‘anarchist’ designation and started including it in grant applications. federal.
The Justice Department said in September that all three cities could see federal funding cut under a memorandum from President Donald Trump that sought to identify localities that allow “lawlessness, violence and destruction in cities. American ”.
“I said weeks ago that if the Trump administration persisted in trying to illegally withdraw funds from New York, we would bring them to justice and beat them in court,” the mayor of New York said Thursday. , Bill de Blasio.
He added: “It is morally wrong, it is legally unacceptable, it is unconstitutional. We are convinced of the victory in this case.
City official Johnson, who joined de Blasio at the mayor’s daily briefing, said NYC could see her lose up to $ 12 billion in funding.
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NYC Corporation attorney James Johnson, left, said: “We are bringing this action because they took real action – they actually took that ‘anarchist’ designation and started including it in the federal grant applications. He joined Bill de Blasio, right, on Thursday
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Johnson said the lawsuit would argue Trump’s actions violate federalism and unlawfully infringe the “stock market power” of Congress.
“What we have seen of President Trump threatening to fund New York and other cities is morally wrong, it’s legally unacceptable, it’s unconstitutional,” de Blasio said Thursday. “And we will fight it.
New York was hit by an increase in crime over the summer. Shootings in August climbed 166% from the same month last year and murders by 47%, according to NYPD statistics.
Protests against racial injustice have also resulted in violence and riots.
NYPD’s resources were cut as their huge budget was cut by $ 1 billion.
Earlier this month, it was reported that the number of home buyers buying apartments in Manhattan fell 46% in the third quarter due to pandemic lockdowns.
Manhattan has been hit by high unemployment and growing sanitation and transit problems, and has only accommodated 10 percent of workers in their office buildings.
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Protests against racial injustice have also spilled over into violence and riots in New York
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Manhattan has been hit by high unemployment and growing sanitation and transit problems, and only 10% of workers have returned to their office buildings.
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NYPD resources were cut as their huge budget was cut by $ 1 billion
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At the same time, the Justice Department said the three cities had been designated as “anarchist” jurisdictions because they met criteria such as “whether a jurisdiction prohibits police forces from intervening to restore law and order. order in a context of violence or widespread or sustained destruction “and if the city” prevents or defeats police services.
The move came as Trump sought to label cities run by Democratic mayors as besieged by violence and lawlessness, despite the fact that most protests against racial injustice have been largely peaceful.
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The Justice Department said in September that all three cities could see federal funding cut under a memorandum from President Donald Trump that sought to identify localities that allow “lawlessness, violence and destruction in cities. American “
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Cities could lose millions of dollars in funding for HIV treatment, newborn screening, programs related to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as nearly 200 other health programs, according to details in documents obtained and revealed by Politico on Wednesday.
Trump’s September 2 memo said Democrat-run cities were not doing enough to stop riots and violence resulting from months-long civil unrest over police-black community relations – an issue that has become a rallying point for the president’s re-election campaign.
“My administration will do everything in its power to prevent weak mayors and lawless cities from taking federal dollars as they let anarchists harm people, burn buildings and ruin lives and businesses,” tweeted Trump shortly after the memo was posted last month.
Three weeks after the memo was released, Attorney General Bill Barr called New York, Portland and Seattle “anarchist jurisdictions,” and the White House budget office asked federal departments to also look into the matter. financing of the national capital.
Documents recently reviewed on Wednesday show the Department of Health and Human Services identified those few hundred health programs for review, which could subsequently face cuts in the two weeks leading up to the presidential election.
It is unclear when or how the cuts will be made and how they will affect these cities as the coronavirus pandemic continues to cripple economies and stress local budgets.
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