(MENAFN) A federal judge on Wednesday halted the Trump administration’s attempt to redirect $34 million allocated for protecting New York’s transit system from terrorist threats, underscoring the city's enduring vulnerability since 9/11.

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan ruled that New York is “quite likely” to prove the funds were unlawfully diverted as retaliation for the state’s refusal to cooperate with the administration’s expansive deportation efforts, according to media.

The court issued a temporary restraining order that will stay in place until October 15, when Kaplan will decide on a longer-lasting injunction.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday by New York against the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA, stresses that the Rail and Transit Security Grant Program was created post-Sept. 11, 2001, to protect transit systems from chemical, biological, radiological, and explosive attacks.

Cuts are not limited to transit: federal counterterrorism funding for the NYPD plunged from $90 million to roughly $10 million, a reduction that NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch labeled “profoundly bad news” on Wednesday.

Kaplan’s order highlights that the program’s allocation is strictly risk-based, stating, “Obviously, New York is no stranger to risks of terrorist attacks and it’s not just 9/11 that tells us that,” referencing incidents dating back to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

The judge found it “reasonably likely, quite likely” that the funding reductions are politically motivated, part of the Trump administration’s efforts to punish jurisdictions opposing what it described as “the largest deportation mission in history.”

Since his return to the White House in January, Trump has publicly criticized Democrat-led cities as unsafe and threatened to deploy federal troops to intervene.

New York’s current mayor, Eric Adams, a Democrat who assumed office in 2022 and recently ran as an independent before withdrawing from this year’s race, remains at the center of political tensions.

Trump has also targeted the current Democratic mayoral frontrunner, Zohran Mamdani, threatening to cut federal funding should he win.

New Yorkers are set to vote for their next mayor on November 4.

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