A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration Wednesday from yanking nearly $34 million in MTA counterterrorism grants to New York — a day after $187 million in cuts to similar federal funds to the state were spared.

Manhattan federal Judge Lewis Kaplan noted that the reduction in the MTA grant money would force New York “significantly to reduce its police presence and its counterterrorism activities.”

The anti-terror funds — created in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, when 3,000 people died “within sight of this courthouse” — can be distributed “solely on the risk of terrorist activities,” the judge said.

During the 30-minute hearing, Kaplan also noted that it seemed likely that the state will be able to prove that the White House tried to “punish” it for “exercising its responsibilities in a way that does not satisfy the Administration’s wishes with respect to what it calls the ‘largest deportation program in history.'”

A Trump-appointed judge in Rhode Island, Judge Mary McElroy, signed a similar court order on Tuesday temporarily blocking the White House from nixing $187 million from the counterterrorism budgets of the Big Apple, plus funds from 11 other Democratic-leaning cities.

In New York, the federal funds support bomb squads, patrols around sensitive targets like houses of worship, intelligence analysts and tech like radiation detectors to monitor for explosives.

“I want to be very direct about this. If these cuts go through as planned, it will represent a devastating blow to our counterterrorism and intelligence programs in New York City,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who helms the country’s largest municipal police force, said Wednesday.

“To be blunt, this is the difference between a city that prevents the next attack and a city left exposed to it. Counterterrorism funding cannot be a political issue. It cannot rise and fall based on partisan wins.”

Local politicians, including Gov. Kathy Hochul, demanded that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which administers the grants through the Homeland Security Grant Program, explain its reasoning for the planned cuts, which represent an 87% reduction to $30 million.

The feds also want to yank $15 million from the FDNY, Hochul’s office said.

“Cutting $187 million, defunding our police and fire department here in New York City to protect us from possible terrorism attacks? My God, you can’t make this up,” Hochul said at an event flanked by Democratic lawmakers and other officials who blamed Republicans for a government shutdown that went into effect Oct. 1.

Meanwhile, the MTA and New York Attorney General Letitia James are fighting cuts to a separate Homeland Security grant program from transit agencies, arguing it was singled out because of the Big Apple’s sanctuary city laws barring cooperation with immigration enforcement.

“After 9/11, I can think of no other state that is facing the risk than New York. So the question that you ask is, why did they zero it out? They zeroed it out because they alleged that we’re a sanctuary city,” James said.

It’s unclear exactly why the grants are being reallocated to other states. A source familiar said how much funding each locality gets is based on an assessment of how much at risk they are for a terrorist attack. That means FEMA would have likely had to change the risk calculation to precipitate such a massive shift in funds.

“FEMA is prioritizing the responsible use of existing resources and working with jurisdictions to unlock those funds and explore alternative sources like the State Homeland Security Grant Program. Our goal is to ensure communities remain secure while making the system more effective and accountable, moving away from the fraud, waste and abuse of the past,” a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told The Post.

The DHS spokesperson said states across the country are sitting on $1.6 billion in unspent funds through the program and that New York still carried “substantial balances,” but declined to give a specific number.

New York had originally expected to see a 40% — or $87 million — cut to the grant funds after original projections from FEMA were released in early August.