DHS Cracks Down on Visa Abuse as Trump Administration Ends Border Crisis and Drives Historic Drop in Foreign-Born Population

 

DHS secured the first decline in the foreign-born U.S. population in more than 50 years

The Trump Administration has done what no modern president even attempted: end the border crisis, restore control of America’s immigration system, and put American workers back at the front of the line. Under President Donald J. Trump’s leadership, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has shattered decades of failed policy, securing the largest increase in immigration enforcement funding in U.S. history and driving the first decline in the foreign-born U.S. population in more than 50 years.  

Thanks to aggressive enforcement, streamlined deportation protocols, and the restoration of real border security, hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens have been deported and over 2 million more have self-deported rather than face certain removal. And this is only the beginning: the first wave of newly trained ICE agents is beginning to deploy, expanding the administration’s ability to sustain record-high enforcement levels into 2025 and beyond.  

“President Trump and Secretary Noem said we’d secure the border, enforce our laws, reinstate integrity into our immigration system, and protect American jobs and that’s exactly what we’ve done,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “The era of mass illegal migration, open borders, and visa abuse is over. The American people finally have a government that enforces the law, not one that apologizes for it.”  

Restoring Integrity to the Visa System  

As part of this broader effort to restore law and order, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has intensified scrutiny of America’s visa programs. Under the Trump administration, USCIS has restored robust screening and vetting capabilities, re-emphasized fraud detection and deterrence, and reduced exploitation of the immigration system through humanitarian and Temporary Protected Status programs, including significant achievements in just the past three months alone:  

• In August, USCIS updated their policy manual to include screening for factors relating to an alien’s past requests for parole and any involvement in anti-American or terrorist organizations, as well as the use of discretion in adjudication of certain benefit requests where evidence of antisemitic activity is present. Immigration benefits, including to live and work in the U.S., remain a privilege, not a right. 
• In September, through Operation Twin Shield— in conjunction with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement—DHS focused on more than 1,000 fraud or ineligibility instances, conducted over 900 site visits and in-person interviews, and found evidence of fraud, non-compliance, public safety or national security concerns in 275 of the cases. 
• In October, DHS ended the automatic extension of certain employment authorization categories, putting a stop to a cycle of autopen signed screening and vetting applications. Ending this cycle ensures a higher vetting frequency of aliens who apply for employment authorization to work in the U.S. This extra step enables USCIS to better deter fraud and detect aliens with potential harmful intent and can expedite their removal process.   

 A Return to Law, Order, and American Prosperity  

Record Enforcement Funding: The Trump Administration secured the largest boost to immigration enforcement funding in U.S. history, ensuring DHS, ICE, CBP, and USCIS have the resources to carry out mass removals and protect the homeland.  

Mass Deportations and Self-Deports: In less than a year, hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens have been deported, while an estimated 2 million have left voluntarily to avoid prosecution or removal.  

New ICE Agents: The first wave of newly trained ICE officers will deploy in the come months, marking the largest expansion of field enforcement personnel in two decades.  

Historic Population Shift: In an era where unchecked mass immigration has ravaged American communities, depressed wages, and eroded national sovereignty for over half a century, achieving net negative migration represents a seismic reversal, and the dawn of sustainable sovereignty. 

Recidivist Fraudster Arrested For Stealing Gustave Courbet Painting

 

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced the unsealing of an Indictment charging THOMAS DOYLE, a/k/a “AJ” or “Austin Doyle,” with wire fraud in connection with an alleged scheme by DOYLE to defraud the owner of the painting “Mother and Child on a Hammock” by the 19th-century French Realist painter Gustave Courbet.  DOYLE was previously convicted in the Southern District of New York in 2011 of a separate art-related fraud.  DOYLE was arrested yesterday morning in Norwalk, Connecticut, and presented in the Southern District of New York.  The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian.  

“The art market is largely based on trust,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton.  “As alleged, Thomas Doyle breached that trust by telling the owner of a valuable painting a series of brazen lies to trick the owner into giving him the painting so he could keep the profits from the sale of the painting for himself.  The women and men of the Southern District of New York and our law enforcement partners will continue to work diligently to root out this type of bad actor.” 

As alleged in the Indictment unsealed yesterday in Manhattan federal court:

Between December 2022 and March 2025, DOYLE defrauded an art dealer (“Victim-1”) in connection with the sale of the painting “Mother and Child on a Hammock” (the “Hammock”) by Gustave Courbet.  In December 2022, DOYLE introduced himself to Victim-1 over email, representing himself to be in the business of buying and selling art.  Over the next few years, DOYLE and Victim-1 communicated over email and WhatsApp Messenger regarding artworks, and DOYLE made various misrepresentations to Victim-1 about himself, including falsely stating that he managed the “art side” of a family trust with assets worth billions of dollars.

In June 2024, DOYLE and Victim-1 began discussing the Hammock, which Victim-1 owned and was selling.  Victim-1 agreed to let DOYLE take custody of the Hammock to facilitate its viewing by a potential buyer.

In or about July 2024, DOYLE told Victim-1 that he had a potential buyer for the Hammock, and Victim-1 authorized DOYLE to sell the painting on his behalf for $550,000.  By early August 2024, DOYLE falsely informed Victim-1 that he had sold the Hammock for that price.

Instead, DOYLE’s associate (“Associate-1”), acting on DOYLE’s behalf, offered the Hammock for consignment to a Manhattan gallery (“Gallery-1”).  DOYLE provided Associate-1  with a false provenance for the Hammock that was passed on to Gallery-1, stating, among other things, that the Hammock had been purchased from Victim-1 in 2019.  Gallery-1 sold the Hammock on October 1, 2024, for $125,000 to an art collector.  On October 3, 2024, Gallery-1 wired $115,000, which were the sale proceeds of the Hammock minus commission, to Associate-1.  That same day, Associate-1 paid DOYLE $109,250 for the Hammock.

DOYLE never remitted to Victim-1 any proceeds from the sale of the Hammock.  By February 2025, DOYLE had spent all the proceeds from the sale of the Hammock on personal expenses and his own debts.  DOYLE subsequently falsely blamed his failure to pay Victim-1 on the purported buyer, fraudulently claiming the buyer had yet to pay when in fact DOYLE had been paid and was spending the proceeds of the Hammock sale.

On March 4, 2025, DOYLE admitted by email to Victim-1 that DOYLE had “betrayed” and “lied” to Victim-1 about the Hammock.

DOYLE, 68, of Connecticut, is charged with one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum prison term of 20 years.

The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.

Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Art Crime Team.

Hong Kong Businessman Indicted for Role in Filing False SEC Investment Adviser Forms on behalf of Sham Entities Used in Ramp-and-Dump Scheme

 

A federal grand jury in the District of Columbia returned an indictment yesterday charging a Hong Kong man for his role in a conspiracy to file false and deceptive investment adviser forms with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for at least 10 shell business entities that he and co-conspirators created. The false forms gave the impression that the entities were legitimate financial advisers, though they were sham entities. At least two of these false entities were then used to induce retail investors through social media and WhatsApp chats to purchase the stock of Chinese companies listed on NASDAQ. 

“Today’s indictment charges the defendant for his alleged role in a complex securities fraud scheme that caused hundreds of millions of dollars in investor losses,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The Criminal Division is fully committed to stopping foreign actors who victimize American retail investors. Under my leadership, the Criminal Division will aggressively investigate and prosecute criminals who steal the hard-earned savings of U.S. citizens through fraud and deceit.”

“The investing public relies on the accuracy and integrity of materials filed with the SEC,” said SEC Inspector General (SEC-OIG) Kevin B. Muhlendorf. “The SEC-OIG will tirelessly investigate domestic and foreign actors who seek to abuse the SEC’s processes for malicious purposes.”

According to the indictment, Guanhua Su, 37, of Hong Kong, who goes by the alias “Michael Su,” was the managing director and marketing director of Rhino Consulting Business Service Ltd, a Hong Kong-based financial services business. As alleged, between approximately February 2023 and March 2025, Su and his co-conspirators created at least 10 shell entities and filed fraudulent investment adviser forms with the SEC on behalf of the companies. For example, on behalf of two entities — Bluesky Eagle Capital Management LTD (Bluesky Eagle) and Wisdom Capital Management Group LTD (Wisdom Capital) — Su allegedly made or caused to be made false statements concerning the entities’ principal place of business, status as a public company, chief officers and whether information about private funds would be disclosed on other investment advisers’ filings.

According to the indictment, in April 2024, Bluesky Eagle and Wisdom Capital were used by co-conspirators to induce investors to purchase stock of a NASDAQ-listed public company based in the Cayman Islands with business in China that operated, at one point, with a variable interest entity (VIE) structure. Using false identities of financial advisers purportedly connected to Bluesky Eagle and Wisdom Capital, co-conspirators allegedly promised returns of 300-500% in WhatsApp chats, telling investors that they would be fully compensated for any losses. The indictment further alleges that as investors were told to buy stock in the public company promoted by WhatsApp accounts associated with the sham entities, foreign-based brokerage accounts sold the company’s stock for gross proceeds of as much as $211 million. On April 17, 2024, the public company’s stock price collapsed by approximately 88%, resulting in significant investor losses.  

On Nov. 13 the SEC filed civil actions against a number of entities for which the Department had charged Su with filing false forms with the regulator. The SEC filed civil actions against Bluesky Eagle and Supreme Power Capital Management LTD in the Southern District of New York and against AI Financial Education Foundation Ltd.,AI Investment Education Foundation Ltd., Invesco Alpha Inc. and Adamant Stone Ltd. in the District of Colorado. The SEC previously filed a civil action against Wisdom Capital in the District of Columbia.

Su is charged with conspiracy to commit securities fraud, making material misstatements in a report filed with the SEC, and false statements. If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for each count.

The SEC-OIG investigated the case. The Department of Justice appreciates the efforts of FINRA’s Surveillance and Market Intelligence – Market Abuse Group.

Trial Attorney Matthew Reilly of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section is prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

FORMER NYC DOC OFFICER SENTENCED TO 90 DAYS IN JAIL FOR PLANTING MAKESHIFT WEAPON IN RIKERS ISLAND CELL

Defendant Was Convicted by Jury 

Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark and NYC Department of Investigation Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber today announced that a former NYC Department of Correction Officer has been sentenced to 90 days in jail after a jury convicted him of Tampering with Physical Evidence and first-degree Falsifying Business Records for putting a sharpened piece of plexiglass in an inmate’s cell. 

District Attorney Clark said, “The former Correction Officer’s action was so egregious as many of his colleagues have been victims of slashings in the jails. I thank the Department of Investigation for their work in holding him accountable. But a 90-day sentence falls short of sending the message that corruption that imperils staff and inmates is intolerable.”

Commissioner Strauber said, “The City’s Correction Officers are critical to the safety and security of our jail system and the vast majority act with integrity in carrying out this vital responsibility. This defendant failed his fellow officers, persons in custody and the public when he planted a makeshift weapon in the cell of a person in custody. He now stands convicted and sentenced and no longer works for the Department of Correction. DOI and our law enforcement partners will continue to investigate and prosecute those Officers who break the law and breach their duty. I thank the Bronx District Attorney’s Office for its partnership to ensure stability in the City’s jail system and the Department of Correction for bringing allegations against this Officer to our attention.”

District Attorney Clark said Dionisio Rosario, 35, was sentenced today by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Timothy Lewis to 90 days in jail for Tampering with Physical Evidence and firstdegree Falsifying Business Records. He was sentenced to 90 days on each felony to run concurrently. The defendant was also sentenced to a one-year conditional discharge for Official Misconduct. The people had requested 1 1/3 to four years in prison. A jury convicted Rosario after a two-week trial.

According to the investigation, on April 4, 2023, members of the DOC Emergency Services Unit, including Rosario, were conducting a search for contraband inside of Robert N. Davoren Center (“RNDC”) 5 Upper North housing area. The defendant entered the cell of a detainee who asked Rosario to search him after sundown so he would not violate observance of Ramadan. The defendant yelled at the detainee to put down a Qur’an which was in his hand, and sprayed him with chemical agent, and the two men fought.

Shortly after, the defendant is captured on video surveillance, including his own body worn camera, grasping a sharpened object and entering the cell of the inmate and placing a 4.5-inch piece of sharpened plexiglass near the sink area. The defendant is seen searching other areas of the cell before coming back to the sink area, where he removed the weapon from where he planted it. The defendant said he recovered it by the sink area, but also stated it was in the inmate’s hand. He gave false information in four DOC reports.

District Attorney Clark thanked the Department of Investigation, specifically Correction Officer Investigator Anthony Palmer of DOI’s Office of the Inspector General for DOC. 

Governor Hochul Directs Flags to Half-Staff to Honor Fallen New York City Fire Department Firefighter Patrick Brady

Flags To Be Flown at Half-Staff Across New York State on Saturday, November 15

Governor Kathy Hochul today directed flags on all State government buildings be lowered on Saturday, November 15 from sunrise to sunset in honor of Patrick Brady, a New York City Fire Department firefighter who died in the line-of-duty on November 8, 2025. Flags will be lowered concurrently in honor of former Vice President Dick Cheney.

“The men and women of New York’s Fire Department risk their lives every single day to protect ours — that is exactly what Firefighter Patrick Brady did while battling a five-alarm fire on Saturday,” Governor Hochul said. “Firefighter Brady gave his life in service to his fellow New Yorkers, and I am grateful for his courage and 11 years with the department working every day to protect our city. I express my deepest condolences to his family, friends and colleagues as they honor his life.”

 

MAYOR ADAMS ANNOUNCES NEW MODEL TO HAVE NEW YORK CITY’S 911 MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS RESPONSE INITIATIVE, B-HEARD, BE FULLY OPERATED BY NYC HEALTH + HOSPITALS

 

Under New Model, B-HEARD Teams Will Continue to Respond to 911 Mental Health Calls With Medical and Mental Health Professionals Working Under NYC Health + Hospitals  

  

FDNY EMTs Previously Assigned to B-HEARD Will Be Reassigned to Other Emergency Response Units as Part of City’s Efforts to Improve Ambulance Response Times 

  

Announcement Builds on Mayor Adams’ Commitment to Supporting New Yorkers with Serious Mental Illness and Treating Mental Health Crises as Public Health Issue 

  

B-HEARD Teams Have Responded to Nearly 35,000 Calls Since Launching in 2021 

New York City Mayor Eric Adams today announced a major evolution of Behavioral Health Emergency Assistance Response Division (B-HEARD) — the city’s health-led response to 911 mental health calls — that will shift the focus even further towards a health-first response by streamlining management to be fully operated and managed by NYC Health + Hospitals in the coming months. As part of the transition, Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) emergency medical technicians (EMTs) previously assigned to B-HEARD will be reassigned to other emergency response units as part of the city’s efforts to improve ambulance response times in cases of emergencies. This change will preserve EMTs for the most critical medical emergency responses while enabling B-HEARD to continue featuring medical and mental health professionals for nonviolent mental health 911 calls. After the transition, B-HEARD will continue to send out response teams to nonviolent 911 mental health calls with medical and mental health professionals. The new model is expected to take effect in the spring of 2026. Today’s announcement further builds on Mayor Adams’ commitment to supporting New Yorkers with serious mental illness and treating the city’s mental health crisis as a public health issue. 

  

“Today, we are proud to announce a new model for our city’s response to 911 mental health calls that will be fully operated by NYC Health + Hospitals ,” said Mayor Adams. “This new model for B-HEARD will allow our FDNY EMTs the opportunity to focus further on other emergency response units as part of our city’s efforts to improve ambulance response times and use our resources more efficiently, while still addressing mental health emergencies we continue to see playing out in our city. From day one, our administration’s goal has been to keep New Yorkers safe and to help those struggling with severe mental illness; doing this means we must provide treatment and support to those in crises in the most efficient and compassionate way possible. We are building a culture of compassion in the name of public safety, public health, and the public interest, and we are proud to be delivering just that.” 

 

“NYC Health + Hospitals is proud to be the largest provider of behavioral health services in New York City, and our commitment to the city’s innovative B-HEARD program is unwavering,” said NYC Health + Hospitals President and CEO Mitchell Katz, MD. “We are grateful to our outstanding partners in the program’s first iteration, and we look forward to continuing its evolution as we serve New Yorkers in mental health crisis.” 

  

Launched in 2021, B-HEARD was created as an interagency collaboration between the FDNY and NYC Health + Hospitals with oversight from the Mayor’s Office of Community Mental Health (OCMH). During its initial years of operation, B-HEARD partnered EMTs and mental health clinicians to respond as a team to 911 mental health calls without violence or weapons as the primary concern. 

  

Over the life of the program — between its launch in 2021 through June 2025 — B-HEARD teams have responded to nearly 35,000 mental health 911 calls. Of the patients who received a mental health assessment by a NYC Health + Hospitals clinician, 43 percent were served in the community instead of being transported to a hospital emergency department. B-HEARD teams work to understand each individual’s needs, de-escalate situations, and, whenever possible, connect with family members and the individual’s existing clinicians to determine the best path forward. The program achieved an overwhelming patient-satisfaction rate with 96 percent of survey respondents reporting B-HEARD helped them and 94 percent agreeing that the B-HEARD response was more appropriate for their needs than the traditional emergency response they had previously received. Each B-HEARD response reflects New York City’s commitment to responding to the mental health crisis with the most appropriate care and reducing unnecessary use of a hospital’s emergency department and of police resources.  

  

NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest provider of behavioral health in New York City. The system provides over 60 percent of behavioral health services citywide, serving over 78,000 patients annually across emergency, inpatient, and outpatient care.  

  

Commitment to Mental Health 

  

In 2023, Mayor Adams announced a sweeping mental health agenda, “Care, Community, Action: A Mental Health Plan for New York City,” with $20 million in new commitments that invested in, among other initiatives, an online hub to connect New Yorkers with serious mental illness to care, as well as a substantial expansion of the clubhouse program.  

  

Alongside the Adams administration’s focus on mental health, Mayor Adams also launched “HealthyNYC” in November 2023, an ambitious plan to extend the average lifespan of all New Yorkers by, among other things, reducing the impact of deaths related to mental health, like overdoses, suicide, and homicides, by 2030. Additionally, HealthyNYC expands access to culturally responsive mental health care and social support services, including early intervention for communities of color and LGBTQIA+ youth, and helps address the impact of social media on youth mental health and suicidal ideation to reduce suicide deaths.  

  

Later that month, Mayor Adams announced “Teenspace” — the city's tele-mental health service available to all New York City teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17 at no cost. In the first six months of the program, the service — created in partnership with online therapy platform Talkspace — allowed more than 6,800 New York City teenagers to connect with a licensed therapist through phone, video, and text for free. 

  

The announcement builds on the work of the Adams administration in addressing the crises of severe mental illness on New York City streets. In August 2025, Mayor Adams launched the “End the Culture of Anything Goes” campaign to highlight the work the administration has done to change the culture and laws that prevented people with severe mental illness from getting the help they needed while making the investments necessary to support outreach, harm reduction, wraparound services, and housing to make lasting impacts in lives and communities. As part of this campaign, Mayor Adams made a series of announcements promoting the administration’s efforts to help New Yorkers struggling with severe mental illness and substance addiction while simultaneously addressing quality of life and public safety on New York City streets, including: 

  

•   Announcing a major milestone to connect over 3,500 homeless New Yorkers from streets and subways to permanent housing, including over 1,000 New Yorkers from the subways as a result of Mayor Adams’ Subway Safety Plan, first launched in 2022. 

•   An expansion of the New York City Police Department’s (NYPD’s) Quality of Life Division, or “Q-Teams,” announced earlier this year, to every precinct and all housing commands citywide. Q-Teams focus on tackling daily issues that impact New Yorkers’ sense of safety and well-being, including cracking down on illegal mopeds, towing abandoned vehicles, cleaning up encampments, addressing outdoor drug use, responding to noise complaints, and more.   

•   Opening of 13 newly contracted clubhouses — the city’s first procurement of clubhouses in nearly 30 years — to support people with severe mental illness thanks to a $30 million investment by the Adams administration.  

•   Launching the city’s first-ever Involuntary Transports Dashboard, which allows New Yorkers to track trends in involuntary transports and better understand how the city connects individuals with emergency psychiatric care, while simultaneously upholding the administration’s commitment to transparency. 

•   Announcing a new proposal to further support New Yorkers’ struggling with substance use disorder and to address public drug use, as well as a $27-million investment focused on improving access to substance use disorder treatment through outreach and enhanced treatment strategies. 

•   Opening the Bridge to Home facility, a new, innovative support model designed to help patients living with severe mental illness who are ready to be discharged from the hospital but do not have a place to go.  

•   Opening two additional Extended Care Units in the city’s public hospitals, where patients can stay for up to 120 days after being discharged from an inpatient psychiatric unit, receive psychopharmacological treatment, and pursue rehabilitative activities.  

  

Strong Fiscal Management 

  

In the lead up to the upcoming November 2025 Financial Plan Update, Mayor Adams recently announced a new investment that will increase the uniformed headcount of the NYPD by 5,000 officers, increasing the total number of officers to 40,000 — the highest level in 20 years — by Fiscal Year (FY) 2029. Mayor Adams is making an investment of $17.8 million in the upcoming fiscal year that will increase to $315.8 million by FY 2029 to support the phased-in hiring of the additional 5,000 officers by July 2028.  

  

Today’s announcement follows Mayor Adams’ long history of strong fiscal management, including delivering an on-time, balanced, and fiscally-responsible $115.9 billion Adopted Budget earlier this year, which built on the FY 2026 Executive Budget, often called the “Best Budget Ever.” The Executive Budget doubled down on Mayor Adams’ commitment to make New York City the best place to raise a family by, among other things, investing in “After-School for All,” a $755-million plan to deliver universal after-school programming to families of children in kindergarten through eighth grade; baselining funding for 3-K citywide expansion and special education pre-K to build on the administration’s work to dramatically expand access to early childhood education; investing over $400 million to fully fund the transformation of Fifth Avenue in Manhattan into a world-class, pedestrian-centered boulevard; and revitalizing “The Arches,” the public space on the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge. The FY 2026 Adopted Budget was also the first to implement Mayor Adams’ landmark “Axe the Tax for the Working Class” plan, which abolishes and cuts New York City's personal income tax for filers with dependents living at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty line. Because of this plan — which the Adams administration successfully fought to pass in Albany this budget cycle — $63 million will go back into the pockets of over 582,000 low-income New York filers, including their dependents, helping make New York City more affordable for working-class families. 

NYS Office of the Comptroller DiNapoli: State Pension Fund Valued at $291.4 Billion at End of Second Quarter

 

The estimated value of the New York State Common Retirement Fund (Fund) was $291.4 billion at the end of the second quarter of State Fiscal Year 2025-26, New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced today. Fund investments returned an estimated 4.13% for the quarter and 9.82% for the first six months of the fiscal year.

"Despite ongoing domestic and global volatility, financial markets have performed well over the past quarter, benefitting the state pension fund,” DiNapoli said. “Yet concerns over a slowing labor market, inflation and uncertain federal policy warn of turbulence ahead. Our diversification strategy, long-term perspective and effective management strongly positions the Fund to ensure that state and local government employees will receive the retirement benefits they have earned, even amid any market fluctuations.”

The Fund's audited value was $273.1 billion as of March 31, 2025, the end of the state’s fiscal year.

As of Sept. 30, 2025, the Fund had 41.7% of its assets invested in publicly traded equities. The remaining Fund assets by allocation are invested in cash, bonds, and mortgages (21.5%), private equity (14.1%), real estate and real assets (14.1%) and credit, absolute return strategies and opportunistic alternatives (8.6%).

The Fund’s long-term expected rate of return is 5.9%.

DiNapoli initiated quarterly performance reporting by the Fund in 2009 as part of his ongoing efforts to increase accountability and transparency.

MAYOR ADAMS, GOVERNOR HOCHUL ANNOUNCE PLANNING EFFORT FOR FUTURE OF ROOSEVELT ISLAND, AGREEMENT TO EXTEND ROOSEVELT ISLAND MASTER LEASE

 

Initial 10-Year Extension and Subsequent Long-Term Extension of Lease Will Provide Financial Certainty and Housing Stability for Over 5,500 Residential Units 

 

New Planning and Community Engagement Effort Will Explore Potential for Additional Housing and Supportive Infrastructure on Island 

New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York Governor Kathy Hochul today announced a new framework to extend the Roosevelt Island master lease as well as a separate agreement to begin a joint planning effort around future development on Roosevelt Island, taking an important step toward ensuring the island’s long-term stability and growth. Subject to final approval by the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC), the state entity that manages the Island, the city and RIOC will extend the master lease on the island by 10 years, from 2068 to 2078. This initial extension will provide greater financial certainty for homeowners and residents, helping them access additional financing and maintain stable housing values. Additionally, the city, state, and RIOC will launch a planning and community engagement process to identify opportunities for potential housing; new infrastructure and amenities to serve the island; and other community priorities. The outcomes of this planning and engagement work will be incorporated into a longer-term extension to the master lease in the years to come, as well as other amendments to the lease to streamline city, state, and RIOC operations on the island. 

 

“Roosevelt Island has had many names and dozens of lives over the years — with this lease extension and new engagement effort, we’ll start planning the next great phase in the island’s story,” said Mayor Adams. “We’ll make it easier for New Yorkers living on the island today to stay in their homes and explore the possibility of adding new homes to welcome even more people to the neighborhood as well. We’ll work with the community to create vibrant spaces and lay the groundwork for a safer, more affordable Roosevelt Island for the decades to come.” 

 

“Roosevelt Island holds some of the best views of New York City’s skyline, but also has a deep and rich history, making it a desirable place for New Yorkers to live and a notable tourist destination,” said Governor Hochul. “This new lease extension will allow for the island’s next chapter — exploring opportunities to build more housing and new infrastructure for the community and visitors to gather, while still providing stability for current residents.” 

 

“Roosevelt Island is a unique and treasured part of our city, and today’s announcement represents a major milestone toward securing its present while planning for its future,” said Deputy Mayor for Housing, Economic Development, and Workforce Adolfo Carrion Jr. “We look forward to conversations with the local community in partnership with RIOC and the state to identify investments that could make the island more livable and enjoyable and explore how the island could support additional housing.” 

“Roosevelt Island has undergone remarkable transformation in recent decades that continues to drive economic opportunity for New York City," said New York City Development Corporation (NYCEDC) President & CEO Andrew Kimball. "This lease extension and new planning and engagement process will ensure that Coler and Roosevelt Island residents will play a role in helping shape the next chapter of Roosevelt Island, as a vibrant, mixed-use community for generations of New Yorkers to come.” 

 

These city and state agreements on the lease are the most significant updates to the master lease since it was originally signed back in 1969. Since 1988, the city has leased Roosevelt Island to the state and RIOC, a public benefit corporation that was created to plan, design, develop, operate, and maintain Roosevelt Island. The RIOC Board of Directors is expected to approve the Master Lease extension at its December meeting.  

 

Today, Roosevelt Island is home to 12,000 residents and over 100 businesses. As part of the planning process, the city, state, and RIOC will engage residents, community leaders, elected officials, and other stakeholders around the opportunity to create more housing and other community amenities on the island and invest in infrastructure to support a larger residential population. The city and state will work together to plan for possible redevelopment of the defunct Roosevelt Island Steam Plant site, which is on land leased to the state. The steam plant previously provided heat to hospitals on the island but was decommissioned in 2014. The city’s demolition of the steam plant will commence shortly, facilitating potential redevelopment of the site.  

 

The planning process will also consider the NYC Health + Hospitals/Coler campus, a 70-year-old skilled nursing facility on the north side of the island, which is a critical part of the NYC H+H System. The city and state will prioritize the needs and input of Coler residents and staff — including the delivery of high-quality care, modernized infrastructure, and resiliency efforts to fortify the island against coastal flooding risks. The planning exercise will seek opportunities to reimagine the Coler campus for additional housing and improved health care facilities, with a briefing for residents and staff soon to provide available information and seek input. The formal planning process will kick off in the coming weeks with additional opportunities for public engagement in 2026. The city and state plan to meet with the Roosevelt Island Real Estate Development Advisory Committee and the Community Board 8 Roosevelt Island Committee to gather feedback on the planning process. 

 

“This planning study and community engagement process, along with a 10-year lease extension, is a vital step in providing greater certainty and stability for residents, building owners, businesses, and educational institutions on Roosevelt Island. I want to thank Governor Hochul, Mayor Adams, and our city and state partners for their leadership and collaboration in making this possible,” said B.J. Jones, president and CEO, Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation. “I look forward to continuing to work with the city to plan responsibly for the island’s future by helping us assess and strengthen the island’s infrastructure, address community needs, and chart a thoughtful path of island stewardship for the next generation.”