28 arrests in 30 days at one abandoned building in Somers. Here is what it actually means.
New York State Police confirm 28 people have been arrested for trespassing at the former IBM campus in Somers over the past 30 days. The most recent arrest, on April 13, involved a loaded 9mm pistol, a crowbar, a camera, and a large power strip. One of the trespassers, 25-year-old Benjamin Volino of Mahwah, NJ, now faces two class C felony charges.
The volume is unusual. Twenty-eight arrests in 30 days at one site is not a normal enforcement posture for any Westchester location. What is driving it is worth naming directly. TikTok and YouTube videos of creators walking through abandoned buildings — a genre called "urbex" — pull significant audiences. The IBM Somers campus has become a Hudson Valley flagship for that content.
IBM consolidated operations out of the Route 100 complex more than a decade ago. A prior redevelopment attempt did not complete. Since then, the property has sat largely empty.
Why it matters: This is not a crime blotter story. It is a suburban real estate question. Westchester has a small but meaningful inventory of ghost campuses — former corporate headquarters that consolidated elsewhere and have not been redeveloped. Each one is its own version of the same question: what happens to post-corporate real estate when the corporation leaves and there is no clear plan to replace it?
The absence of an answer is what the IBM Somers site is currently demonstrating. An owner that cannot or will not secure the property. Local and state police carrying the enforcement burden. Neighbors absorbing the anxiety. And a social media feedback loop that generates a steady pipeline of new trespassers.
Somers deserves a plan. Westchester deserves a framework. Until the county has one, sites like Somers will keep generating the headlines.
Quick Hits
Builders Awards Honor Anthony Morando. The Westchester Magazine Builders Awards were held April 16 at Harrison Meadows Country Club. Anthony Morando of Cuddy & Feder was named the 2026 Emerging Leader Honoree. Toll Brothers, Cappelli, Tavo Development, and the Villani Group were in the room. A meaningful snapshot of the county's active development community.
Barnes & Noble Closed Monday at the City Center. After 20 years, the Barnes & Noble at the White Plains City Center closed yesterday. Monday's Westchester Brief covered what is moving in behind the closure across the county.
White Plains Hospital Named 2026 Castle Connolly Top Hospital. White Plains Hospital was named the highest-ranked hospital in the Hudson Valley by Castle Connolly and is one of only two New York hospitals to win both the Healthgrades Patient Safety Excellence and Outstanding Patient Experience Awards this cycle.
Yonkers Metro-North Station Upgrade Moving. Design work is underway on a $125 million overhaul of the Yonkers Metro-North Station, with construction expected later in 2026. The project adds public green space and a parking garage topped with rooftop solar.
One More Thing
A reader question for the week. Westchester has several former corporate campuses sitting in varying states of redevelopment. Which one do you think is most likely to be reused productively in the next three years, and which one do you think will still be sitting empty? Reply and let us know.
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