Photos by Arlo Dobbie

The NYPD referred me to the FBI for this incident, but I saw the story first in Crain’s.

From the FBI: “This morning an individual deployed an incendiary device outside of 26 Federal Plaza. The individual has been taken into custody, and the FBI New York Joint Terrorism Task Force is investigating the incident.”

From Crain’s: “A man ignited a fire, set off fireworks and menaced pedestrians with a firearm outside 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan on Monday morning before federal police took him into custody at the scene, the New York Police Department said.

“The man was pulling a cart that held long guns, additional fireworks and other items, police said. The NYPD’s Emergency Service Unit established a perimeter around the building, which houses the FBI’s New York field office and a federal immigration court, and the bomb squad was notified and responded. The investigation is continuing.”

I am not sure why Crain’s is calling this the FBI office, since that is just one floor of the 41 story building — which has its own zip code. 26 Federal Plaza is better known these days as home to the Department of Homeland Security and also has three floors of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Immigration hearings at the court there result in lines around the block regularly, not to mention ICE arrests for the past two years.

Also at the building is the Department of Health and Human Services, the Social Security Administration and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

More when I get more details from the FBI.

Lining up for immigration court