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New York is one of four cities, including Seattle, Houston and Pittsburgh, that will not receive money through the $1 billion COPS program.

Vice President Joe Biden and Attorney General Eric Holder made the official announcement today from Philadelphia.

"We receive applications from more than 7,000 cities and towns and made funding decisions based of crime rates, financial need and community policing activities," said Holder.

Federal officials say New York has already received millions of dollars in funding from other programs, adding it was not chosen to receive the aid because of its relatively low crime rate and stable city budget.

The vice president said that New York will still be getting some help with a Justice Assistance Grant, which supports efforts involving the hiring of police officers, crime prevention, and domestic violence programs.

"I know our friends in New York were very disappointed they didn't get any cops money this time," Biden said. "But they are getting $6 million additional local aid immediately for these Justice Assistance grants. So we try to work our way through the highest priority areas which need the most work the quickest."

The New York City Police Department was looking for $650 million over three years to pay for 2,000 new officers. According to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the funds would have only been a small percentage of the overall $5.5 billion budget.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly also noted that the city has had two successful terrorist attacks and eight major terrorists plots since the September 11th attacks.

"It is a small amount, but it would allow us to add some cops," Bloomberg said. "And I'm not saying that's not important and Commissioner Kelly really needs those cops. But in the grand scheme of things, we're just going to have to make choices and move people around and we will keep a police force the size which we think is necessary to protect the public and no bigger."

Last night, when word came out about the elimination of the funds, both the police commissioner and the mayor responded forcefully.

In a statement, Kelly said, "There should be substantial and continuing federal support for the NYPD. We shouldn't be penalized for succeeding on both counts, and mainly on our own dime, over the last seven-and-a-half years."

Bloomberg added, "To punish our police department because they have driven down crime with fewer resources shows the backwards incentive system that is sometimes at work in Washington."

New Yorkers had mixed opinions about the decision.

"The areas I've lived in, we've had the highest crime rates, so they definitely need more cops out there," said one New Yorker.

"We are a target for everything that could happen," said another. "We are a big city. There are a lot of people here, people from everywhere. We really need it."

"This is where the money's made and this is where the tax revenue is, so we can deal with it better than some other places if there isn't as much money to go around," countered a third.

Since 1995, the city has received $606 million in federal COPS funding, which has allowed for the hiring of 4,780 officers since 1996 and 1,820 civilian jobs since 1995.

Governor David Paterson said the NYPD's work reducing crime should not be a reason to reduce funding.

"I don't know that we want to punish great achievement," said the governor. "In other words, we still have great threats around the city, probably more than anywhere else from terrorism, and I thought that perhaps they might have used a different standard. I'm not happy about it at all."

Crime rates in the city have been on the steady decline. Crime in the seven major felony categories is down 76 percent since 1993, even though the department's head count is down to 35,600 from a peak of around 41,000 in 2001.