Daily News - Rep. Peter King: Federal Government Failed New York and Put City Risk

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By Peter King

The federal government failed for more than 48 hours to warn city officials that the alleged Boston bombers had eyed New York as their next target.

They unnecessarily put lives at risk, and we must know why.

Surviving suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev reportedly relayed the plans to the FBI during a hospital-room interrogation stretching Saturday through Monday.

Mayor Bloomberg and NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly say they learned of the threat Wednesday night.

What if Tsarnaev and his slain brother were part of a broader conspiracy? What if accomplices waited to strike Manhattan in their absence?

The NYPD was denied key intelligence. It's indefensible.

Why did they wait?

And why did the Justice Department grant Tsarnaev a right to silence and arraign him Monday after just 16 hours of interrogation?

The questions are piling up, and Attorney General Eric Holder has got to answer them.

After the Boston bombing, New Yorkers and visitors from around the world took comfort at the site of NYPD cops and cruisers ringing Times Square.

If anyone can stop a terror attack, it's the NYPD.

But why take that chance?

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