U.S. Senator Charles Schumer today paid a visit to the new Biotech Incubator at New York Medical College in Valhalla.

The man behind the attempted Times Square car bombing has been sentenced to life in prison. Faisal Shahzad told a judge in Manhattan this morning that he felt no remorse for planning out the attack that failed five months ago. Shahzad pled guilty to ten terror-related charges in June. U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara says the would-be Times Square bomber got the sentence he deserved.

The 31 year old parked a car packed with homemade explosives near a crowded Times Square intersection May 1st. They did not detonate.

He was arrested after an alert Times Square vendor, Duane Jackson of Buchanan, alerted authorities about the suspicious vehicle.

After the verdict, U.S. Congressman Eliot Engel (D-Bronx, Westchester, Rockland) commented,

A Federal Judge in White Plains has denied bail for three of the four men accused of plotting to bomb two synagogues in the Bronx as well as military aircraft at Stewart Airport in Newburgh. Judge Colleen McMahon today ruled that Onta Williams, David Williams, James Cromitie and LaGuerre Payen will remain in custody. Lawyers for the four had petitioned for bail for their clients, who have pleaded not guilty to the charges, saying they were entrapped by Federal officials in a sting. Payen is from Haiti and is ineligible for release.

Just days after a suspect was arrested for his alleged involvement in a failed car bombing attempt in Times Square, Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino Thursday  assured County residents that Westchester has a broad range of public safety and counter-terrorism initiatives in place to keep residents safe.

Astorino says the Department of Public Safety and its law enforcement partners gather intelligence information daily and implement other counter-terrorism initiatives to protect residents, businesses and critical infrastructure in the County from possible terrorist activity.

Earlier this year, the Department of Public Safety merged its Crime Analysis Unit and the department's Counter-terrorism functions into the Westchester Intelligence Center. The move put all intelligence gathering and sharing information under one roof,something officials say eliminates the risk that valuable information could fall through the cracks. In addition, authorities say the move better enables both departments to share such information.

Commissioner of the Department of Public Safety, George Longworth says there are numerous systems in place designed to combat terrorism. They include a County Police Detective assigned full time to the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force.

The County has at its disposal, the police Aviation Unit that regularly conducts counter-terrorism patrols over such areas as the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plants, the Tappan Zee Bridge and New York City watershed properties.

Longworth adds that County police patrol officers, as well as the Aviation and Marine Units are equipped with radiation detection equipment. Such detectors, he says, have the capability of identifying a vehicle or vessel carrying a so-called "dirty bomb" made up of radiological material.

In addition to systems in place, Longworth says teams pay unannounced visits to a wide range of locations throughout the County from transportation hubs to busy shopping areas to provide an additional layer of security to key locations in Westchester County.