26 Federal Plaza (formally known as the Jacob K. Javits Federal Office Building) is a U.S. governmental office building on Foley Square in the Civic Center neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. At 41 stories, it is the tallest federal building in the United States. It was built in 1963–69 and was designed by Alfred Easton Poor and Kahn & Jacobs, with Eggers & Higgins as associate architects. A western addition, first announced on "inadvertently acquired land" in 1965, was built in 1975–77 and was designed by Kahn & Jacobs, The Eggers Partnership and Poor & Swanke. The building is named for Jacob Javits, who served as a United States Senator from New York for 24 years, from 1957 to 1981.
The building is assigned its own ZIP Code, 10278; it was one of 41 buildings in Manhattan that had their own ZIP Codes as of 2019. The building falls under the jurisdiction of the United States Federal Protective Service for any and all law enforcement and protection issues. To the east of the main building is the James L. Watson Court of International Trade Building.
The building has received significant media attention due to its use by Immigration policy of the second Trump administration (ICE) for staging immigrant removal operations, as well as for its use for hearing immigration court cases. The building has been a flashpoint in New York City immigration politics during Trump's second term.
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History of the site
A Gothic style Masonic hall was located at this site between Reade and Pearl Streets from 1826 to 1856, directly across from the original site of the New York Hospital. This served as the home of the Grand Lodge of New York until its demolition.
Occupants
Agencies located in the building include the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Social Security Administration, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Federal Executive Board. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' New York field office is on the 7th floor, the Brooklyn field office is on the 8th floor and the Queens field office is on the 9th floor. The Federal Bureau of Investigation's New York field office is on the 23rd floor. The 12th floor is the site of an immigration court with hallways open to the public.
Former President Richard Nixon rented a federal office in the building from 1980 to 1988.
In 2026, the Army Corps of Engineers prepared to vacate the building according to a relocation directive based on the cost paid to the General Services Administration for occupancy of the government owned building. The move to a privately leased commercial building in Newark, New Jersey, would also consolidate the North Atlantic Division, currently based at Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn, with this branch.
Artworks
Tilted Arc is an artwork by Richard Serra commissioned for the plaza in front of the building. Commissioned in 1979 and built in 1981, it was criticized both for its aesthetic values and for security reasons. It was removed in 1989, which resulted in a lawsuit and a trial. The piece was put in storage, as the artwork was site-specific, and the artist does not want it displayed in any other location. The removal and trial led to the creation of the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990.
After the removal of Tilted Arc, landscape artist Martha Schwartz re-designed the plaza. Other artworks connected with building include A Study in Five Planes/Peace (1965) by Alexander Calder and the Manhattan Sentinels (1996) by Beverly Pepper. In the James L. Watson Court of International Trade can be found Metropolis (1967) by Seymour Fogel and Eagle/Justice Above All Else (1970) by Theodore Roszak.
ICE incidents
Protesters have repeatedly assembled in Foley Square to protest the building's use for immigration enforcement in NYC during the second Trump presidency.
August 14, 2025
On August 14, 2025, five letters containing a white powder were found in the ninth floor of a mail room for ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO). Two people were exposed to the powder, and hazmat teams responded. The powder was discovered to be non-hazardous after being sent to a lab for testing.
July 20, 2026
On the morning of July 20, 2026, 43-year-old Andrew Arrabaca pulled a shopping cart outside 26 Federal Plaza with a poster affixed to the front saying "ICE OFF OUR STREETS." The cart contained fireworks and airsoft rifles according to anonymous government officials who spoke with The New York Times, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the man was carrying a manifesto. The man then poured flammable liquid (possibly gasoline) on the ground and threw an object on the liquid. Bright orange flames then erupted, followed by fireworks being set off. Arrabaca held up an airsoft gun to keep people away, and police quickly tackled and arrested him. Bomb squad police were later deployed wearing white hazmat suits.
Arrabaca reportedly served in the Army and National Guard according to reporting by officials to NBC.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the incident "deeply disturbing" and said he will "hold accountable" anyone who threatens the safety of those in NYC. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel said the FBI and Joint Terrorism Task Force were investigating the incident and that two minor injuries had been reported. The New York City Fire Department said three or four injuries had been reported. The DHS called him an "anti-ICE rioter."
On the same day, border czar and senior ICE official Tom Homan said ICE was already operating across New York City but that "there’s going to be a surge and there needs to be surge."