The suspicious package on Howard Avenue mentioned on the Gothamist Newsmap? According to the Daily News, it was an "M80 wired with nine bullets and lashed to a small brown glass bottle filled with an ounce of liquid" found inside the locked safe of Brooklyn resident Ramon Lopez. Police were called to Lopez's Brownsville apartment when he and his wife were in a "heated fight" and found the explosive plus a gun. Lopez was arrested and taken to Kings County Hospital for a psych exam. A neighbor said, "He seemed like a nice, normal guy. I'm surprised to hear this," and Lopez's brother said, "He doesn't have bomb-making knowledge. He has no affiliation with any terrorists or anything like that." more ›

A legless man in a wheelchair planted explosives in the 125th Street Metro-North station yesterday, according to police. Trains were rerouted and the Harlem station was evacuated while officers tried to make sure that the "pyrotechnic" device, which consisted of M-80 fireworks and shotgun shells, didn't detonate. more ›

Sigh: WCBS 2 reports that a passenger who flew into LaGuardia Airport last night "was questioned by FBI agents" because he allegedly boarded the flight with a 4" long, 3/4" wide firecracker: "Officials confirmed Monday that a crew member on board Piedmont Airlines flight 4126 was cleaning the plane after it landed in New York around 7:30 p.m. when he found [the device] wedged between two seats. Port Authority officials contacted FBI agents, and the passenger from that seat location, identified as 67-year-old Thomas Ouelette, of Bonita Springs, Fla., was tracked down and taken into custody." While terrorism is not suspected (at this point!), "Ouelette already had two outstanding warrants in Florida for 'unlawful flight.'" more ›

Sigh: Apparently a passenger aboard a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit tried to set off an explosive as the plane was landing. ABC News reports, "Federal officials and police are interviewing a Nigerian man, who allegedly tried to 'explode' a powdery substance...injuring himself and two other passengers." more ›

Police are continuing to investigate the low-grade explosive that detonated outside a Starbucks on the Upper East Side early yesterday morning. Authorities do not think the bomb is the work of terrorists and one resident of the Third Avenue at 92nd Street building, Issan Hage, told 1010 WINS, "I looked out the window and saw two kids running away. I believe it's just kids pissed off at Starbucks for selling coffee for $2." more ›