ALBANY - Governor David Paterson Wednesday announced that $34 million in homeland security grant funds have been awarded to the New York City urban area as part of the federal government’s Urban Area Security Initiative. The funds are made available through the federal Public Safety Interoperable Communications Grant Program that will help fire, police and other first responders better communicate during emergencies.

The New York City Urban Area Security Initiative includes NYC, Yonkers, Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk Counties, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The region will receive the $34 million from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security. With the award of the PSIC grant, the NYC UASI region can now begin using the funds to advance several critical communication initiatives, including:

• Technology to enhance communication within the MTA tunnel system;
• A shared communication platform for the first responder agencies within the region and gateway technology to integrate some of the existing legacy systems into the overall communications effort; 
• Enhanced public safety communications technology within the Port Authority Trans HudsonRailroad system.