GOVERNOR HOCHUL ANNOUNCES OPENING OF $4.3 MILLION CRISIS RESIDENCE FOR YOUTH IN QUEENS

YAI Children’s Crisis Residence to Support Young People Experiencing Behavioral Health Challenges 

State Now Supports 21 Licensed Children’s Crisis Residences to Help Youth Return to Home, School and the Community 

OMH Commissioner Dr. Ann Sullivan, right, joins the ribbon-cutting for YAI's Children's Crisis Residence.

Governor Kathy Hochul today announced the opening of the YAI Children’s Crisis Residence in the East Elmhurst neighborhood of Queens. Funded with $4.3 million through the state Office of Mental Health, this facility will serve young people between the ages of 5 and 21 during a mental health crisis, enabling them to receive support and continue their recovery within the community.

YAI received $4.3 million in capital and program development funding through OMH for the project, which is adaptive reuse of a former Our Lady of Fatima convent. Located at 25-56 80^th St. in East Elmhurst, the facility includes two six-bed suites, which will provide 24/7 therapeutic support to young people, including individualized recovery plans.

The crisis residence is the first to begin operating in Queens and YAI is among 21 of these programs now licensed by the state, promoting stability and providing the services to help youth remain strongly connected with their families as they recover and ultimately return home. Crisis residences offer comprehensive risk assessment, health assessment, family counseling, and one-on-one support provided by a multidisciplinary team, among other services.

Voluntary stays of up to three weeks in a Children’s Crisis Residence also help prevent unnecessary visits to higher levels of care, like hospital emergency rooms. These programs can also foster connections to support and other resources designed to help youth remain in the community –something that is often most conducive to recovery.

Children’s Crisis Residences are a key component of OMH’s comprehensive crisis response system, which is designed to help New Yorkers who are experiencing a behavioral health crisis. The new facility in East Elmhurst will partner with New York City Health + Hospitals, local providers offering home-based crisis intervention, Youth Assertive Community Treatment teams, and Children’s Health Homes, among other community partners.

“It is essential that young people and their families can receive community-based support when confronting a behavioral health challenge,” OMH Commissioner Dr. Ann Sullivan said. “The new YAI Children’s Crisis Residence will enable youth and their families to receive needed care in a safe, comfortable environment and take steps to return home in a timely manner with ongoing connections to support. 

Virginia State Senator Indicted for Leading a Criminal Marijuana Distribution Enterprise

 

Lillie Louise Lucas Charged with Drug Trafficking, Money Laundering, Fraud, and Firearms Charges

Today, an eight-count indictment charged seven defendants for their respective roles in a racketeering conspiracy involving marijuana distribution, money laundering, honest services fraud through bribery, maintaining drug-involved premises, possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking, and wire fraud.

“Louise Lucas has served in a position of public trust in the Commonwealth of Virginia for over three decades,” said Attorney General Todd Blanche. “The charges alleged in this indictment reveal the behavior of a public servant who put her own financial interests before the people she was elected to serve. Our federal prosecutors will continue to be guided by the facts and evidence that led a grand jury to indict Ms. Lucas and her alleged co-conspirators.”

“Today’s indictment reveals Louise Lucas allegedly abused her position of public trust as a 30-year Virginia State Senator to put her own financial interests ahead of the people she represents — orchestrating a five-year scheme worth an estimated $4.5 million,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “The charges allege Lucas and a close-knit group of family members and associates used Lucas’ position as Chairwoman of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee to protect their criminal marijuana enterprise — the ‘Lucas Enterprise’ — insulating the business from criminal scrutiny and influencing legislation to financially benefit themselves.”

“This indictment alleges that a sitting Virginia State Senator led a criminal organization that exploited access and influence to facilitate drug trafficking and other offenses,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Theophani K. Stamos for the Eastern District of Virginia. “Public office is a position of trust and should never be abused for personal gain. I am grateful to the agents and prosecutors whose dedication and tireless work throughout this years-long investigation has culminated in this indictment.”

According to the indictment, Virginia state senator Lillie Louise Lucas, 82, of Portsmouth, Virginia, led a criminal enterprise (the Lucas Enterprise) comprised of a close-knit group of associates and family members, including her two daughters and her grandson. Lucas allegedly approved and directed activities of the enterprise, including arranging for the acquisition and distribution of 100 kilograms or more of marijuana and supervising the laundering of marijuana proceeds.

Lucas was elected to the Senate of Virginia in 1991, has served as the president pro tempore since 2020, and is currently the Chairman of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee, which handles the state budget, tax policy, and state expenditures. Lucas allegedly used her political position to insulate the Lucas Enterprise from criminal scrutiny and to influence legislation benefiting the enterprise. 

Carlton Upton Jr., 54, of Chesapeake, Virginia, was Lucas’ business partner in VA Freedom Life, an umbrella for The CBD Shoppe and The Cannabis Outlet beginning in 2019. Upton also managed the CBD Shoppe and allegedly worked with Lucas to obtain a recreational marijuana license to benefit the Lucas Enterprise. In April 2020, Upton allegedly made materially false attestations on an application for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) for Virginia Freedom Life, which was funded in the amount of $11,800.

In 2021, Lucas and her daughter, Lisa Lucas-Burke, opened The Cannabis Outlet in Portsmouth, Virginia. Another daughter of Lucas, Theresa Lucas-Lamb, and Lucas-Lamb’s son, Ryan Eichelberger, allegedly acquired marijuana and supervised its distribution and managed The Cannabis Outlet for the Lucas Enterprise. On Feb. 1, 2022, Lucas listed herself as President and CEO of VA Freedom Life on the Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory General Assembly Statement of Economic Interests form.

In August 2022, Lucas allegedly paid $750,000 for a 100% stake in a business that was the shell holding company for a co-conspirator’s expected Virginia recreational marijuana license. Lucas allegedly failed to report the interest obtained in this entity on her required Statement of Economic Interests forms. Lucas allegedly met with the co-conspirator at her office at the capitol complex to receive a partial repayment and spoke with other officials, including legislators, about the co-conspirator’s qualification for a recreational marijuana license depending on her receipt of a bribery payment from the co-conspirator.

On May 6, the FBI executed federal search warrants at The Cannabis Outlet and The CBD Shoppe. Agents recovered marijuana and firearms at both locations.

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

Bronx Man Arrested And Charged With Physically Assaulting Federal Agent

 

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jamie McDonald, and Special Agent in Charge of the New York Office of the United States Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), Pete Gizas, announced that LIBERTY MARTIN has been arrested and charged with physically assaulting an HSI Special Agent on October 8, 2026.

“Our Office will aggressively protect and defend our law enforcement partners against unlawful attacks,” said U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald. “Assaulting law enforcement officers in the commission of their lawful duties undermines respect for the rule of law and threatens the systems we rely upon to keep us safe.   This Office will not tolerate criminal interference of their sworn duties and will charge anyone who unlawfully jeopardizes the safety of law enforcement officers.” 

 “The defendant stands accused of assaulting a federal law enforcement officer, recklessly endangering the special agents on scene and the public they were sworn to protect,” said HSI Special Agent in Charge Pete Gizas.  “This alleged conduct was a direct attack on the rule of law and the safety of our community.  Make no mistake: an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us. Assaulting a federal law enforcement officer is a severe crime that carries zero leniency, guaranteeing that the perpetrator will be caught and that justice will be swiftly served. HSI New York, together with our law enforcement partners, will bring the full force of the criminal justice system to bear and ensure the defendant is held accountable."

 According to the allegations in the Complaint: 

On or about October 8, 2026, at approximately 6:45 p.m., in the Bronx, New York, a crowd of people, including MARTIN, surrounded an HSI Special Agent (“Agent-1”), who was responding following an incident between federal law enforcement officers and an individual in the Bronx. MARTIN physically assaulted Agent-1 by aggressively grabbing and ripping Agent-1’s clothing. MARTIN and others then followed Agent-1 to his department-issued vehicle, where MARTIN again grabbed Agent-1’s clothing. Other individuals then further assaulted Agent-1 by pushing him against his vehicle, grabbing his clothing, shoving his head and body into the vehicle, and slamming the vehicle door on him, causing a two-inch laceration to Agent-1’s forehead. 

MARTIN, 42, of the Bronx, New York, is charged with one count of physically assaulting an employee of the United States, which carries a maximum sentence of 8 years in prison.

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. McDonald thanked the Nassau County Sheriff’s Department, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General, and the Diplomatic Security Service for their assistance in this investigation.

This case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Caitlin McCarey is in charge of the prosecution.

The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

1.  As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Complaint and the description of the Complaint set forth herein constitute only allegations, and every fact described therein should be treated as an allegation. 

Mayor Mamdani Triples City’s Commitment to Speed-Limiting Technology in City Vehicles

 

City will retrofit 2,000 additional vehicles, expanding the nation’s largest intelligent speed assistance fleet to 3,000 vehicles 

Fleet vehicle featuring intelligent speed assistance technology 

Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani and Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) Commissioner Yume Kitasei today announced that New York City will install intelligent speed assistance technology in 2,000 additional municipal vehicles over the next three years, tripling the City’s commitment from 1,000 to 3,000 vehicles. 

  

Intelligent speed assistance (ISA) limits vehicle acceleration when a vehicle exceeds the local speed limit or a speed threshold set by DCAS. The expansion advances Mayor Mamdani’s commitment to lead by example by making New York City’s municipal fleet the safest in the nation, as outlined in Vision Zero Reimagined, his 10-year street safety blueprint.  

  

The expansion also builds on Executive Order 19, which directs DCAS to retrofit all nonemergency municipal trucks with pedestrian alerts and require pedestrian alerts and ISA in all new nonemergency vehicle and truck purchases.     

  

DCAS announced the expansion at the City’s 11th Annual Vision Zero Fleet Safety Forum. The agency also announced a partnership with New York City School Bus Umbrella Services (NYCSBUS) to install pedestrian alerts on 100 school buses, marking the first test of the technology for school transportation. 

  

“Our administration holds all New Yorkers to the highest standards of street safety — and that starts with our City workers,” said Mayor Mamdani. “We are tripling our investment in technology that helps prevent speeding and makes our streets safer for all New Yorkers, whether they’re behind the wheel, crossing the street or riding a bike.” 

  

“What started as a pilot of just 50 vehicles has grown into a program that will soon reach 3,000 and has been a model for fleet safety across the nation,” said DCAS Commissioner Yume Kitasei. “From speed assistance to pedestrian alerts, sideguards and all of the safety upgrades we continue to install and explore, we’re investing in technology that builds a City fleet that is not only safer, but also more efficient and sustainable.”  

  

DCAS launched its ISA initiative in 2022 with 50 vehicles and has steadily expanded the program. More than 1,000 city vehicles are now equipped with the technology, and participating vehicles have logged more than 10 million miles.  

  

A recent report by DCAS and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Volpe National Transportation Systems Center found that ISA reduced speeding among equipped vehicles by 64%. On high-speed roads, including highways, speeding dropped by 82%. The City’s 2025 Safe Fleet Transition Plan (SFTP) identifies ISA as a best-practice safety technology and classifies it as “required technology,” the plan’s highest designation.  

  

Through its Fleet Office of Real Time Tracking (FORT), DCAS monitors the movements including speed of more than 30,000 municipal vehicles and school buses. The office also manages the ISA initiative including speed-limit maps, tracking systems and controls that support the technology. 

  

DCAS manages New York State’s largest electric vehicle fleet and charging network, with more than 6,000 electric vehicles and 2,600 charging ports supporting City operations. The agency continues to expand the use of innovative technologies to make its fleet safer and more sustainable. 

  

“In July 2026 Mayor Mamdani signed Executive Order 19 to improve fleet safety,” said DCAS Deputy Commissioner and Chief Fleet Officer Keith Kerman. “At today’s 11th Annual NYC Fleet Safety Forum at Queens Theatre, we are launching important initiatives to build on the executive order, tripling City vehicles with intelligent speed assistance (ISA) and introducing pedestrian alerts for the first time on school buses. Both technologies will help keep New Yorkers safe.” 

  

Prolific Chinese Money Launderer Sentenced for Laundering Drug Trafficking Proceeds Following Homeland Security Task Force Investigation

Shu Jun Zhen, 31, of New York, was sentenced today in the Western District of North Carolina to nine years in prison and ordered to forfeit nearly $23 million for her role in a Chinese money laundering organization (CMLO) that laundered over $92 million in illicit funds, including proceeds from the importation and distribution of illegal drugs into the United States, primarily through Mexico. This is the second defendant from this CMLO to receive a significant sentence. 

“This case demonstrates the power of coordinated law enforcement efforts through the Homeland Security Task Force,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Connolly of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Atlanta Field Division. “By combining our resources, expertise, and investigative capabilities, we are holding accountable those who facilitate drug trafficking and helping dismantle the financial networks that fuel these criminal organizations.”

“Money launderers help drug traffickers evade the law by moving and concealing their profits, which is why it is critical that we investigate and prosecute them,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Chinese money laundering networks are not peripheral to the drug trade – they are essential to its survival. As part of the Homeland Security Task Force Initiative, the Criminal Division is targeting every link in the drug trafficking supply chain to stop these criminals from poisoning Americans.”

“We are attacking transnational criminal cartels on all fronts, including by dismantling Chinese money laundering networks that support them,” said U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson for the Western District of North Carolina. “Today, we sentenced an individual who laundered drug proceeds and funneled money back to these transnational criminal organizations — amounting to over $90 million of illicit funds in less than two years. These cases are complex, but they prove one thing — these sophisticated cartels are no match for the United States Department of Justice.”

“Money laundering organizations serve as the lifeblood of criminal enterprises, allowing illegal profits to be moved, concealed, and reinvested,” said Special Agent in Charge Donald “Trey” Eakins of IRS Criminal Investigation’s (IRS-CI) Charlotte Field Office. “Shu Jun Zhen played a significant role in laundering millions of dollars in illicit funds, helping criminal organizations move and conceal the proceeds of unlawful activity. We will continue working with our law enforcement partners to find, investigate, and prosecute individuals who enable the flow of criminal proceeds through the U.S. financial system.”

According to court documents, Zhen was a prolific courier for the CMLO. She collected drug trafficking proceeds from U.S.-based drug traffickers and deposited the money, using both real and fake identities, into shell company bank accounts registered by other members of the CMLO. As a courier, Zhen personally picked up and deposited approximately $23 million of illicit bulk cash.

Approximately $670,000 of U.S. currency and 12 firearms seized from a drug trafficking organization that used the CMLO for money laundering services.

In July 2025, Zhen pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering conspiracy, one count of money laundering to conceal the nature, location, source, ownership, and control of the illicit proceeds, and one count of engaging in a monetary transaction involving criminally derived property greater than $10,000. Zhen admitted that she knew the laundered funds included drug trafficking proceeds.

The DEA Charlotte District Office and the IRS-CI Charlotte Field Office are investigating the case. The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation provided valuable assistance.

Trial Attorneys Jayce Born and Kenneth Kaplan of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section (MNF) and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nick Miller and Seth Johnson for the Western District of North Carolina are prosecuting the case.

MNF’s mission is to take the profit out of crime, eliminate drug cartels, and protect the U.S. financial system. MNF pursues criminal prosecutions and criminal and civil asset recovery actions involving: financial facilitators who launder profits for criminals; financial institutions and their officers and employees whose actions threaten the U.S. financial system and financial institutions; international money launderers who support transnational organized crime; and the top command and control of international drug trafficking organizations.

MNF’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Unit investigates and prosecutes the top command and control elements of international drug cartels, drug trafficking organizations and related transnational criminal organizations.

This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. 

DHS Issues Statement After Man Attempts to Firebomb ICE Facility in Atlanta

 

The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released the following statement after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility was firebombed in Atlanta, Georgia.

On the evening of October 20, 2026, a male suspect threw an improvised incendiary device toward the ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Field Office in Atlanta. Miraculously, the device did not reach the facility, as it became caught on the top of the perimeter fence.

“This latest attack is part of a dangerous and unacceptable escalation of violence against the men and women of ICE who are simply enforcing the laws of the United States,” said DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin. “Irresponsible rhetoric from sanctuary politicians and radical activists has contributed to a massive increase in violence and threats against federal law enforcement officers performing their Congressionally-mandated duties. ICE officers are facing a more than 1,600% increase in assaults against them. Assaults on our officers and facilities will not be tolerated. Anyone who targets federal law enforcement will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

At approximately 9:00 p.m. EST, the subject threw a bottle, later identified as an improvised incendiary device, toward the facility. The device failed to clear the perimeter and became caught on top of the fence. An Atlanta Police Department (APD) officer in the immediate vicinity observed the incident and attempted to apprehend the subject by chasing him on foot. The suspect fled the scene.

The improvised incendiary device

The perimeter fence that the device got caught on after it was thrown

Law enforcement partners, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and APD, are actively investigating the incident.

This incident follows a pattern of escalating violence against ICE facilities and personnel nationwide. The brave men and women of ICE continue to put their lives on the line every day to arrest criminal illegal aliens, including murderers, rapists, gang members, and terrorists, and make our communities safer.

Governor Hochul Announces Start of Largest Subway Signal Replacement Project in MTA History

$1.9 Billion Investment Funded By Congestion Pricing Will Modernize A and C Service in Brooklyn and Queens

Modern Signals Will Replace 1930s-Era Equipment, Providing Faster, More Frequent and More Reliable Service

Governor Kathy Hochul today announced the start of the largest signal and track replacement project in the history of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). The $1.9 billion investment, made possible with funds from congestion pricing, will modernize A and C service in Brooklyn and Queens, replacing antiquated, 1930s-era signals with Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC). The modern signal system allows trains to safely run faster and closer together, facilitating more frequent and reliable subway service.

“Congestion pricing keeps delivering wins for New Yorkers,” Governor Hochul said. “Upgrading nearly 100-year-old signals does more than just modernize infrastructure that is long-overdue – it is a critical part of our plan to run better and more frequent subway service, shortening waits and slashing delays. When this project is done, hundreds of thousands of A and C train riders will benefit from the world-class service on new, modern trains that New Yorkers deserve.”

The project spans 42 track miles along the Fulton and Liberty lines and will replace the oldest remaining signal equipment in the subway system. The work will span from High St A/C to Ozone Park–Lefferts Blvd A, covering 23 stations serving 350,000 riders each weekday. The project corridor provides connections to seven other subway lines, 36 bus routes and connections to the Long Island Rail Road. Across their full routes, the A and C serve 750,000 riders each weekday.

The work builds on other CBTC investments serving A and C riders along Eighth Avenue between 59 St in Manhattan and High St in Brooklyn. Modernizing signals across nearly 85 miles of the subway system is made possible with funds from congestion pricing. Governor Hochul's successful funding of the MTA’s 2025–2029 Capital Plan provides an additional $5.4 billion to modernize signals across more than 75 miles on the Broadway N/Q/R/W, Liberty Avenue A, Rockaway A/S and Nassau Street J/Z lines.

Modern Signals Deliver More Reliable Service

Signal issues are the leading cause of subway delays. Much of the system still relies on aging equipment with components that are no longer commercially manufactured, making maintenance increasingly difficult and expensive.

The existing signal system divides tracks into fixed sections and identifies whether a train occupies each section. CBTC provides a more precise picture of train locations and speeds, allowing trains to safely operate closer together and supporting more frequent service. The modern equipment is also less expensive and easier to maintain.

CBTC is currently operating across the full 7 and L lines, as well as portions of the E, F, M and R routes on the Queens Boulevard and Culver lines. Following signal modernization, on-time performance on the 7 line jumped from 68% to 91%. On the E line in Queens, train speeds increased by approximately 10% following CBTC activation.

For the Fulton-Liberty signal modernization project, the MTA will use an approach that's been shown to reduce signal modernization costs per mile by 33% compared with the average for prior CBTC projects. The MTA achieved this by shifting to a design‑build contracting model that transfers much of the project risk to contractors.

Additionally, the MTA's new strategy for these projects focuses solely on installing state‑of‑the‑art Communications‑Based Train Control technology, foregoing the costly maintenance of legacy signaling during the transition, reducing the need for expensive equipment along the tracks, and maximizing scheduled service outages.

The first phase of work will focus on replacing aging switches and more than 250 feet of specialized track, between 104 St and 99 St in Queens.

The project will also include infrastructure to support future cell service for riders and work to keep existing infrastructure in a state of good repair. The contract for the project was awarded to L.K. Comstock & Railworks in December 2025. Completion is expected in the second quarter of 2032.

Permits Filed for 907 Tiffany Street in Longwood, The Bronx

 

Permits have been filed for a four-story residential building at 907 Tiffany Street in Longwood, The Bronx. Located between Fox Street and Beck Street, the lot is near the Hunts Points Avenue subway station, served by the 6 train. Leapold Zicherman is listed as the owner behind the applications.

The proposed 50-foot-tall development will yield 12,052 square feet designated for residential space. The building will have 24 residences, most likely rentals based on the average unit scope of 502 square feet. The concrete-based structure will also have a penthouse but no accessory parking space.

Sharon Broyn of BASCH A+D Corp. is listed as the architect of record.

Demolition permits will likely not be needed as the lot is vacant. An estimated completion date has not been announced.