Sky-high trooper cost

ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo’s controversial decision to assign state troopers to New York City airports is costing millions of dollars more than anticipated.

A quarterly budget report posted online by the Cuomo administration this week showed a $26 million boost in state police spending from what was originally projected when the budget was adopted in April.

A larger than anticipated class of state police recruits was also cited by the report as a reason for the increased spending. Morris Peters, a spokesman for Cuomo’s budget division, defended the increase as necessary.

“When state police becomes aware of potential threats, additional resources are deployed to critical locations as security may require,” he said.