Fireworks found outside Manhattan federal building, man taken into custody

Fireworks were found in a garbage can outside 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan, and one man was taken into custody as smoke billowed from the area around the federal building. The incident drew an immediate security response at the 41-story government tower on Foley Square, which houses agencies including the FBI and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Videos from the scene showed people running as smoke rose from the ground outside the building. One report said the blast briefly closed off part of the surrounding area, underscoring how quickly a small device or package can force a larger lockdown at a high-profile federal site in Manhattan. Some early descriptions referred to the object as an incendiary device, while NYPD sources said fireworks were found in the trash can outside the building.

The FBI said it was involved through the Joint Terrorism Task Force, placing the case under federal scrutiny as investigators sorted out what had been planted and who was responsible. That distinction matters in a place like 26 Federal Plaza, where routine foot traffic, immigration-related activity and federal law-enforcement offices overlap in one of the busiest parts of Lower Manhattan.

The episode also fit a pattern of fireworks and explosive-device scares in New York City. In a 2025 Manhattan case, a man was accused of making at least seven explosives and throwing some off the Williamsburg Bridge, the FDR Drive and the East River. In June 2021, city authorities said a crackdown on illegal fireworks led to arrests and the seizure of nearly $8,000 worth of the devices, a reminder that what looks like a nuisance in one setting can still create real danger, panic and disruption in another.

At 26 Federal Plaza, the immediate risk was contained quickly, but the response showed how vulnerable crowded government buildings remain to suspicious objects left in public spaces. Even when the final description turns out to be fireworks rather than something more destructive, smoke outside a federal building can still trigger a major law-enforcement and public-safety response in the heart of Lower Manhattan.