Long-awaited homeland security funding for New York City Shuls and Yeshivas could finally be on its way as the Bush administration nears the completion of guidelines for its federal grant program for nonprofit groups.

The money has been stalled for more than a year after the Department of Homeland Security initially withheld a congressional appropriation of $25 million, of which more than $5 million would go to city institutions to bolster counter-terrorism efforts. Nonprofits use the grants to install closed-circuit surveillance cameras, swipe access technology, and sidewalk barriers to guard against car bombs, among other measures.

Sources with knowledge of the administration’s plans said the department could issue a request for applications by next week. A spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, Jarrod Agen, would say only that the guidelines would be released in the “near term.”

The movement comes six months after the department, at the personal direction of Secretary Michael Chertoff, announced that the money would be “promptly and appropriately allocated.” Previously, officials withheld the grants, citing the lack of a “credible threat” against the nonprofit groups, which include museums and health organizations as well as religious institutions. That decision led to protests from city elected officials and religious leaders, particularly those of Shuls and Yeshivas, who cited the risk of terrorist attacks.

But the delay continued despite Mr. Chertoff’s intervention, forcing the $25 million appropriation for 2006 to be rolled over to this year. Officials had first to agree on new language for the applications that would allow institutions to be eligible for the grants without having to demonstrate a specific threat.

The funding guidelines for nonprofits took a back seat while the administration made revisions to broader anti-terrorism programs, including those aimed at protecting large urban areas, infrastructure for ports, and transportation. Those allocations totaled more than $2 billion.

While acknowledging the government’s need to deal with the larger grant programs, some Jewish leaders have privately expressed frustration with the delays in appropriating money for nonprofits but are reluctant to criticize the department openly and possibly jeopardize their applications.

Dozens of city institutions received a total of $5.4 million in 2005, when the Department of Homeland Security gave money to the states to distribute. This time around, federal officials are doling out the funds directly, and groups are anxiously waiting to find out if the department plans to spread the money out to more institutions or whether organizations that received grants in 2005 will be able to apply again.

Rabbi Arthur Schneier of Park East Synagogue on East 67th Street said he is still waiting for the $75,000 grant the synagogue was awarded in 2005. The synagogue, he said, already spends $400,000 a year on security and is planning to apply for another grant if the new federal guidelines allow it.

He and other officials also urged Congress to extend the nonprofit grant program, which was first proposed by Senator Specter, a Republican of Pennsylvania.

“The risk is not going away in the near future, and we hope that Congress regularizes this process,” the director of government relations for the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, David Pollock, said.

Rep. Anthony Weiner, a Democrat of Brooklyn and Queens who has long pushed for more anti-terror funds for the city, said the program had support in Congress despite concerns about how it has been administered by the government.

“It is very troubling that the Department of Homeland Security has been sitting on this relatively small pot of money that could be used quickly and efficiently at the same time as they have been doling out huge pots of money in ways that are dumbfounding in their stupidity,” Mr. Weiner said.

He cited the nationwide distribution of hundreds of millions of dollars in security grants, which city officials criticized because some of it was used to buy a trailer for a mushroom festival in Texas.

(NY Sun)