Since 2001, 20 terrorist plots against New York City have been thwarted — including four in the last two years — and yet, President Obama proposes cutting in half counter-terrorism funding, a move that doesn't sit well with Mayor Bill de Blasio. More.

Researchers are calling on Downtowners to send them their kids’ baby teeth - which they say can help them study the spread of pollutants after 9/11 and their effects on pregnant mothers and their children. Scientists at Mount Sinai Hospital want to analyze the teeth of children born after the World Trade Center attacks to find out how they were affected by the disaster’s environmental fallout. More.

When Stephen Kern stood on a seaside mountain last year in Ishinomaki, Japan, he noticed stairs leading down to a barren field that had once been populated. It was, he said, a “lightening bolt moment.” The area had been leveled by the March 11, 2011 tsunami, and the image jolted him back to the North Tower of New York’s World Trade Center. More.

While the battle over the San Bernardino shooter’s phone continues to play out in the lower courts, the possibility for a case reaching the U.S. Supreme Court becomes more likely with each passing day. Until this happens, members of Congress are scrambling to figure out how they can have an impact in the process. More.

Grace Farms has announced its first round of space grants that will allow local, state and national not-for-profit organizations to use the facilities of the 80-acre space. The grants were awarded to 42 not-for-profit organizations whose programs focus nature, arts, community, justice and faith. More.

President Obama sent Congress a plan on Tuesday to close the United States military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, his latest attempt to deliver on an unfulfilled promise of his presidency, which faces near-certain rejection by Congress. The prison has come to symbolize the darker side of the nation’s antiterrorism efforts, but the series of steps that Mr. Obama outlined at the White House were as much an acknowledgment of the constraints binding him during his final year in office as they were a practical blueprint for transferring prisoners.

New Jersey Congressman Tom MacArthur announced on Tuesday that his legislation to designate the 9/11 Memorial as a national memorial has passed the U.S. House of Representatives. MacArthur introduced the National 9/11 Memorial at the World Trade Center Act that will authorize a grant to help secure the memorial site. More.

The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund said it has offered financial support to nearly 6,000 victims’ families and first responders who became sick because of 9/11 in the past year. An annual report released by the VCF Tuesday says that’s nearly triple the number of payments the fund awarded the year before. More.