Richard Frankel, a lifelong resident of Port Washington, was recently named Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the FBI’s Newark Division by Director James Comey. In this new position, Frankel supervises the FBI employees in the Newark division, covering all of their investigative responsibilities, including counterterrorism, counterintelligence, criminal investigations, cyber-security matters, as well as specialized response teams.
Frankel was born and bred in Port Washington. He attended Daly, Weber and Schreiber. He played sports for PYA and the schools. He attends Temple Beth Israel in Port Washington. Frankel graduated from Ithaca College with a bachelor’s degree in physical education and Quinnipiac University School of Law with a JD. Frankel purchased his childhood home from his parents, where he is raising his five children with his wife, Christine. “I have one kid starting college and one starting kindergarten and three in between,” said Frankel.
Frankel started his career as an assistant district attorney in Suffolk County. “I wanted to be an FBI agent as a kid,” said Frankel. “The opportunity presented itself to go to the FBI academy, and I took it.” Frankel went to the FBI Academy, located on Marine Corps Base Quantico in Quantico, VA. He returned to New York as a special agent, and then was assigned to an organized crime family squad, specifically the Gambino crime family, he said. Since then, Frankel has had a long and varied career in the FBI.
He was promoted to a position in the FBI attorney’s office and advised on matters of law to employees. Frankel also led the aviation threat squad at JFK airport. Frankel was deployed to Afghanistan and served as the FBI’s deputy on-scene commander there and conducted investigations and supported U.S. special forces. Frankel returned to Washington D.C. as assistant inspector of compliance on agent shootings and other matters.
After September 11, Frankel started working in counterterrorism, and became the supervisor of the threat-response squad for counterterrorism in the New York office. “It was a 24/7 response squad that investigated all threat information,” said Frankel. “There were thousands of leads coming in at that time. September 11 was a life-changing event to everyone,” said Frankel. “For me it was career changing. I started investigating counterterrorism and never wanted to leave that mission.”
He was promoted to SAC in New York for counterterrorism, which covers Long Island to Ulster County, including New York City. “The four big cases I worked on while there were overseeing the investigation of a plot to bomb two synagogues in the Bronx and shoot down a military plane near Stewart Air Force Base; the plot to explode a bomb in the New York City Subway system; the attempt to explode a vehicle-borne bomb in Times Square and the Rugby Club bombing in Uganda during the World Cup. I was the on-scene commander for FBI personnel that investigated the bombing of the Rugby Club,” said Frankel.
Frankel was also a WASA-certified hostage negotiator. “I worked on various domestic and overseas kidnappings,” he said. He led a team to the Somali coast to arrest the surviving pirate in the Marsek-Alabama highjacking, made famous by the Tom Hanks movie, Captain Phillips. “He was the first pirate arrested since the 1800s,” said Frankel. “Being overseas working with the military was fantastic.”
Frankel led a team to Narobi, Kenya, to investigate the Westgate Mall terror attack. He was the on-scene commander there. “During the Westgate investigation, the FBI moved a field office to Kenya to assist the Kenyans,” said Frankel.
Assistant Director in Charge (ADIC) of the New York Office of the FBI, Diego G. Rodriguez, said, “With more than 20 years of dedicated service to the FBI, SAC Frankel has distinguished himself as an experienced investigator, strong leader and reliable on-scene commander. Whether serving at home or abroad, he has led investigations into some of history’s most notable cases; many of which posed a significant threat to our national security. With skill and expertise that is unrivaled in this line of work, I have no doubt his many fine contributions will continue in his current position.”
When asked about Port Washington, Frankel said, “I grew up in Port and never really left. Even though there were times that I moved out of Port Washington for college and work, I was always a Port resident. It’s great having my children grow up in the same community that I did.”
