NYC Needs U.S. Vow to Pay Costs of 9/11 Trial, Mayor Says
February 08, 2010, 4:56 PM ESTBy Henry Goldman
Feb. 8 (Bloomberg) -- New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg today said he wants President Barack Obama to promise to pay the costs of providing security should the federal government prosecute five accused terrorists in Manhattan.
A trial in Manhattan “would be very expensive and we expect the federal government to pay for it,” the mayor said. “Keep in mind, we have always had skepticism because a lot of times the federal government promises to pay and then the monies don’t come. So I’d like some assurance because the taxpayers in New York City are certainly strapped.”
Bloomberg told U.S. Budget Director Peter Orszag last month it would cost more than $200 million a year to provide security, to prosecute Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the 2001 attacks, and four fellow Guantanamo Bay detainees in New York. They are set to stand trial in U.S. District Court about a quarter-mile from where the World Trade Center towers stood.
The federal government hasn’t told him where it intends to hold the trial, the mayor said. “If it is in New York City, New York City will provide security. That’s our first and foremost obligation,” he said.
“It would be disruptive to the people in the neighborhood, so my preference would be that it be elsewhere,” the mayor said. The federal government should decide whether to prosecute the defendants under civilian or military law. “That’s not my expertise,” the mayor said.
Obama told CBS Evening News Feb. 7 the administration hasn’t decided whether to continue plans to hold the trial in New York.
“If you’ve got a city that’s saying no, and a police department that’s saying no, and a mayor that’s saying no, that makes it difficult,” Obama said.
Tracy Schmaler, a justice department spokeswoman in Washington, declined to comment.
--With assistance from Justin Blum in Washington. Editors: Walid el-Gabry, Mark Tannenbaum
To contact the reporter on this story: Henry Goldman in New York City Hall at hgoldman@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Tannenbaum at mtannenbaum@bloomberg.net
