"The President's initiatives would increase the total aid to New York to more than $21 billion and will ensure that our recovery and rebuilding needs are supported as we move forward," Pataki says in a statement released this afternoon. When combined with Bush's commitment to create a "Liberty Zone" here and the $10.3 billion in aid appropriated by Congress last year, total funding allocated to New York since Sept. 11 would be $21.3 billion.

The new aid package includes additional FEMA funds for recovery and rebuilding, financing for upgrading Lower Manhattan transit systems, support for road, bridge and tunnel repair and new community block grants. The "Liberty Zone," first proposed in October, would provide $5.5 billion in tax relief to Downtown businesses.