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Robert Ripps book
History of Tribeca Buildings
The embarrassment that is 26 Federal Plaza
Neighbors around Broadway and Duane have despaired over the past years about the situation at 26 Federal Plaza — the square-block building at Broadway and Duane that houses the ICE offices — and I did this story in 2023 about the lines that snaked around the block. Things only got worse, they said, when temperatures dropped, or, when temperatures rose. People were compelled to sleep over night, and fights would often break out when nerves frayed.
But with the arrest of Comptroller Brad Lander there, and now this story in the Times, it was time to revisit.
From a neighbor in 2024: “Federal Plaza has gotten extremely rough and chaotic over the past weeks…the problem has exploded recently and trouble is brewing. It’s a problem for the potential immigrants and the overwhelmed federal security officers. (It is a mere inconvenience for us locals. Messy streets, noise, and a generally unpleasant scene that could, if trends continue and no one acts, become dangerous.) The line is now often a full block long by midnight with people camping out on cardboard. And then in the morning, the line becomes dangerous as crowds form and there is pushing resembling situations where people are injured (or worse) at out of control sporting events. It would be very dangerous to be in the line with a child or if you were simply not physically ready for a challenge.”
From J. in 2023: “Have you seen the lines at 26 Federal Plaza all day and all night? It is a massively unreported story and it is in our back yard. People are literally sleeping on the street from Worth/Broadway East to Lafayette then down Lafayette across Duane and then turning onto Reade back up to Broadway. At this point its pretty intense how many people there are and the conditions that they are waiting in outside night and day.”
From K. in 2022: “My apartment directly overlooks the Javits Federal Building. Since about a month ago we’ve noticed the line has started forming earlier and earlier by the day. At first people would arrive at 5:00 or 6:00 AM to beat the crowds, but as of this week it’s progressed to the point where dozens of people have started showing up as early as 9:00 PM the night before – prepared to stay all night no matter the weather. It seems crazy that people aren’t able to schedule an appointment, and instead have to camp out in the rain for 10 hours. Thankfully there’s some scaffolding but still, can’t help but feel bad for anyone who has to wait like that.”
And now this from The Times: “Two videos, which were recorded by a migrant who was held there last week and sneaked in his cellphone, show more than a dozen men sprawled on the floor atop thin thermal blankets or sitting on benches built into the room’s white walls. In one video, the man, who recorded it near one of the room’s two metal toilets, is heard saying in Spanish that the migrants were being held ‘like dogs in here.'”
This has been and now continues to be an embarrassment: the treatment of men and women, and of course often children, who have to line up on the street for DAYS to get assistance. Then the treatment of people who have been told to report to immigration, only to be held this way for days.
In 2023, the ICE office told me that they understand there are processing delays at some ICE offices and are working to fix it — though while they said they were making processing, staffing and resource allocation improvements, there were no specific plans.
They told The Times: “Any claim that there is overcrowding or subprime conditions at ICE facilities are categorically false. All detainees are provided with proper meals, medical treatment and have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers.”
Clearly not.
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I live in a building that overlooks the Worth and Broadway side of 26 Federal Plaza. While your reporting on past years is completely accurate, the situation has actually improved materially over the last year or two. Ever since construction of the barricades were completed, trees planted and the monuments returned, the lengthy queues (at least on this side of the building) have dissipated, there are regular security guards directing flow of traffic/granting refusing entry in to the lines, and the queues while still there are orderly and don’t really start until after the sun comes up.
None of this is to give credit to ICE and their treatment of people and/or processing times, but it does feel a lot more orderly than in years past and the area has been “cleaned up” a decent amount.
Now if they could finally get rid of the cinder blocks and ugly organge construction plastic/sheds on Broadway, since they appear to serve no purpose now that the sidewalks have been repaired and reopened, that would be swell.
This is true – I walk by there every morning (there’s a day care in the building) and this entire Spring and Summer it’s vastly improved from what it was like the last few years. Much smaller crowds and shorter lines. It’s nowhere as chaotic as it used to be. And with the construction (hopefully) wrapping up, it’s starting to look better too.
When you allow uncontrolled illegal immigration into our country for years, what do you think would happen?
When you “allow” uncontrolled immigration of people fleeing the same kind of terror, abuse and poverty our ancestors did a significant part of any solution has to be visas and settlement strategies that lead to control. More police aren’t going to do anything if you’re ready to crawl through the Darien Gap with a child on your back. It also has to be said if you are on line at Federal Plaza you are by definition “legal” as you are there for a process of some sort where the ICE people know who and where you are.
100%. Thank you for this. Anyone who has or is currently trying to bring people properly through the system knows that the problems aren’t rooted in too much immigration. This system has been broken on purpose.
Reademan: Obama and Biden deported the same number if not more illegal immigrants for less money and without the cruelty and, of equal importance, the authoritarian display of cruelty we are witnessing now. You will see in the Times video that conditions are worse than necessary. You must also know by now that not only are people who are not criminals and who are legal or attempting to become legal are all being treated in this way.
And speaking of “witnessing”, this current video out of Florida shows how it is all escalating https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtHQLkh5hgU, and this commentary from Heather Cox Richardson: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1VxYUmGy7M/
I sure hope you feel that they should be treated as human beings, not being scoffed at, joked about, physically harmed and then profiting from this by proto nazi policing.