From New York Daily News:

Eyeball to eyeball but Bloomy blinks
BY MICHAEL McAULIFF in Washington
and MICHAEL SAUL in New York
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Tuesday, June 20th, 2006

Mayor Bloomberg had the opening he needed - just enough face time with President Bush yesterday so he could grill him about the city's 40% slash in anti-terror funding.

Instead, Bloomberg blinked.

There were no tough questions when the two met briefly at Kennedy Airport - merely a handshake, some pleasantries and a courteous exchange about the city's Homeland Security Department funding slight.

"I welcomed him to New York, took credit for the great weather," said Bloomberg, who recounted the minute-long conversation during a news conference later in the day.

"I did thank him for his efforts to make all homeland security moneys ... distributed based on risk. He had said that a number of times," Bloomberg said.

"And while I wish the pot was bigger, and that is something that he has some control over, then, it really gets down to the House and the Senate, and that's where we've got to make our case," Bloomberg said.

"Other than that, you know, we just chitchatted about how nice it was for him to come," the mayor said.

During the 9:20 a.m. encounter at the foot of the stairs of Air Force One, Bush - in town to deliver a commencement address at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy on Long Island - patted Bloomberg on the back with gusto.

While Bloomberg has spent the better part of the past several months lambasting the federal government on a slew of issues - including stem-cell research and the distribution of bioterrorism funds - there appeared to be no lack of warmth between them.

Bloomberg said one of the reasons he decided to meet with Bush was because the President was going through a "rough period," a reference to his low poll numbers.

"There's no question that I disagree with this administration on a lot of things. I've never been reticent to say that, but I still respect the government, and I think all New Yorkers do."

Asked why the mayor didn't ask the President to restore the 40% cut, Stu Loeser, his spokesman, said, "When the mayor raised the issue of distributing homeland security funding based on risk, it was clear exactly what the reference was."

Bloomberg has previously said he has little expectation that the 40% cut will be restored.

The mayor is scheduled to testify tomorrow in Washington before Rep. Pete King's Homeland Security Committee. King (R-L.I.), who flew on Air Force One with the President, said he made it clear to Bush that the city needs more anti-terror funds.

"I told him how Mayor Bloomberg and I feel, and he understood that," King said.

Bloomberg confirmed yesterday that he and NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly received a classified report in 2003 about a terrorist plot to use homemade cyanide bombs in the city subways. "We were kept fully posted by the federal government," he said, adding that the plot is evidence why New York needs a larger share of the homeland security budget.