(Photo: NY1)

New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly went on Inside City Hall last night to discuss, among other things, his department's controversial surveillance of Muslim businesses and communities unearthed by The Associated Press.

"We're sort of under attack," Mr. Kelly said, arguing the AP fostered a narrative that his department has done something illegal. "The AP has done over 30 stories. It's pretty tough to go up against a wire service that has a certain template that it's sticking to."

"I would submit that they have not done their homework in terms of the Department of Justice Guidelines and the Handschuh stipulations. Right in there it's authorized to do what we're doing," he added.

When the host, Josh Robin, pointed out that criticism of the NYPD's surveillance activities extended beyond just the AP, bringing up U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder statement that he was "disturbed" by the reports, Mr. Kelly brought the discussion back to the wire service.

He responded, "Eric Holder said he only knows what he reads in the newspaper, so it does get back to The Associated Press."

(Photo: Getty)

Mayor Michael Bloomberg doesn't see eye to eye with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on how much information New Jersey is getting from the New York City Police Department.

Yesterday, Governor Christie indicated his state was receiving very little information. "9/11 was not prevented because law enforcement agencies weren't talking to each other, they were being selfish, they were being provincial, they were being paranoid, they were being arrogant," he warned. "I do not want to return to those days."

While on John Gambling's radio show this morning, Mr. Bloomberg was asked if he was surprised by Mr. Christie's or Newark Mayor Cory Booker's criticisms of the NYPD's controversial surveillance of the Garden State's Muslim community in particular.

"Well, I haven't talked to either one about it," Mr. Bloobmerg began. "We have an agreement with the State of New Jersey, signed I think by Governor Codey, in terms of helping them -- because it's a regional problem -- prevent terrorism."

"And also, in the case of, I think it's Newark, they've assigned one of their police officers to work with the NYPD. So we've certainly been keeping them informed," he added, soon repeating again that "we share the information with New Jersey."

Mr. Bloomberg concluded by saying the focus shouldn't be on the disagreements between himself and the New Jersey officials.

"What we've got to do is just work together. We'll do as good of a job as we can to keep everbody informed. Sometimes there's nothing to inform them, sometimes you inform people and they don't listen," he said. "I think we should find things the things we can work together [on] with Governor Christie and Mayor Booker rather than spend our time trying to find differences."

(Photo: Getty)

Congressman Pete King, hosting John Gambling's radio show this morning, interviewed New York Police Department Commissioner Ray Kelly about the recent criticism the NYPD has received over its extensive surveillance of Muslim businesses and mosques. Both the interviewer and interviewee blasted the media for calling the NYPD's actions "spying."

"I just wish the media would show some responsibility and use the words 'surveillance' or 'police investigation' rather than 'spying.' To use that term, to be accusing you of 'spying,' is, to me, really offensive," Mr. King said, asking Mr. Kelly what he thought of the issue.

"It's a pejorative term, it sells well," Mr. Kelly responded. "They forget we've the subject of 14 plots since 9/11 ... We've been lucky. We just have been lucky."

Mr. King also discussed the political implications of the debate. He said the "spying" rhetoric “puts a cloud over what you're trying to do. That's why I worry about the campaign and whoever the next mayor happens to be, if it's against the back drop of 'spying' charges."

Over the weekend, Azi Paybarah looked into where the 2013 mayoral contenders stood on the NYPD's surveillance of Muslims, and found them largely vague on the issue. Of the candidates, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer was the strongest critic, specifically calling the reports "troubling."

In the interview, Mr. King indicated he would unlikely to be a big fan of Mr. Stringer's on another issue as well. Immediately after the "spying" discussion, Mr. King castigated an unnamed City Councilman for saying residents in his community "are more frightened by the NYPD than they are of drug dealers," something Mr. Stringer recently said almost exactly word for word as well.

"Pandering is going on, that is the season that we're entering now," Mr. Kelly replied, dismissing the issue.

(Photo: Wikimedia)

After a recently leaked New York Police Department document revealed extensive surveillance operations of mosques and Muslim-owned businesses in Newark, New Jersey, critics pounced. However, on John Gambling's radio show this morning, Mayor Michael Bloomberg argued the attacks of September 11th proved the need to monitor the Garden State.

"You've got to remember, an awful lot of 9/11 hijackers stayed in New Jersey for an extended periods of time, training, planning their attacks," he said. "Mohamed Atta, the ringleader of the attacks, often met with others in Newark to coordinate and plan the attacks, including selecting which flights to hijack. There's a reason to take a look at Newark here."

"The people of Newark New Jersey, the people of New Jersey, are protected as well," he added. "The NYPD is trying to stop terrorism in the entire region. If we knew about at threat in Newark, we wouldn't say, 'Oh, that's yours. You worry about it.' Quite the contrary."

Newark Mayor Cory Booker is among the NYPD's harshest critics of this new report. "The Newark Police Department was not involved in joint operations with the New York Police Department as was described in the disclosed NYPD report," he said Wednesday, adding that placing "large segments of a religious community under surveillance with no legitimate cause or provocation clearly crosses a line" and is "deeply offensive."

Mr. Bloomberg addressed Mr. Booker directly in his interview. "You talk about the criticism from people in New Jersey," Mr. Bloomberg said. "We did brief the Newark Police Department. We did not, to the best of my knowledge, brief Mayor Booker. So Mayor Booker says he did not know, he's telling the truth."

Because the leaked report was from 2007, Mr. Gambling also pressed also Mr. Bloomberg on whether the NYPD is still conducting these sorts of operations today.

"Let me be careful how I phrase it," he answered, pausing for a second. "We have not let down our guard. We take the threats today just as seriously as the threats of September 12th, 2011. We have not forgotten the lesson of that terrible day on 9/11."

(Photo: Getty)

On John Gambling's radio show this morning, Mayor Michael Bloomberg took some time to defend the New York Police Department, which is under criticism for spying on Muslims throughout the Northeast, including sending an agent on a whitewater rafting trip while counting how many times a day some Muslim students prayed. Today, the Associated Press further reported the NYPD "targeted Muslim mosques with tactics normally reserved for criminal organizations." Mr. Bloomberg didn't have any problem with these actions, however.

"Our primary objective is to prevent things from happening," Mr. Bloomberg explained. "We've got to do everything that the law permits us to do to prevent another terror attack, and we cannot forget that."

"We're going to continue to take all possible legal steps to keep this city safe. We're going to follow all possible leads wherever they take us," he repeated later in the interview.

While insisting another time that everything the NYPD has done is "legal," "appropriate" and "Constitutional," Mr. Bloomberg further argued the police department doesn't specifically target Muslims and defended his personal record on civil rights.

"We don't target individuals based on race or religion," he said.

"We have the most diverse city in the world. We respect every race and every religion. Nobody stood up for the right to pray or participate in our democracy more than I have. And that's why terrorists want to destroy us. We threaten them because we actually practice what we preach."