The C-4 explosives found at New York's Marble Cemetery on 2nd Avenue Sunday (and reported to the NYPD on Monday) were made over 12 years ago. CityRoom reports that initial testing showed the eight bricks were old (though the explosives have an indefinite shelf life), because they "lacked identifying markers known as taggants, which manufacturers were required to include in the putty-like compound starting in 1997." more ›

Speaking at a 2:15 a.m. press conference about the crude bomb found in an SUV in Times Square last night, Mayor Bloomberg said, "We are very lucky... Thanks to alert New Yorkers and professional police officers we avoided what could have been a very deadly event." Inside a Nissan Pathfinder parked on West 45th Street near 7th Avenue, police found "two gasoline cans, three propane tanks, electrical wires, black powder, consumer grade fireworks and two clocks." While the bob was called "amateurish," Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said, "I think the intent was to cause a significant ball of fire." more ›

Would-be subway bomber Najibullah Zazi had two pounds of explosives in his car when he drove over the George Washington Bridge on September 10th of last year, but Port Authority police waved him through after a "cursory" inspection of the vehicle. Now the NYPD is trashing the Port Authority police over the potentially catastrophic incident, reports the Wall Street Journal in an exclusive scoop nicely timed with the debut of their Metro section today. more ›

On Staten Island a young Najibullah Zazi-in-training was caught with homemade bombs under his winter coat, and officials want him and all the other bomb hobbyists out there to know that's not OK. "I made it," John McCloskey told cops. "I'll show it to you. I'm going to prank my friend with it." The 19-year-old didn't need a Qaeda camp for his explosive project; he says video tutorials showed him how to make a bomb out of wire, nails, metal and gunpowder, reports the Staten Island Advance. At his arraignment today, McCloskey will be charged with first-degree criminal possession. “Although this defendant claims that the [device] he manufactured was intended as a prank and not to be used, this was clearly a dangerous situation with the capacity to injure many people,” said DA Daniel Donovan in a press release. “There is nothing humorous about attempting to manufacture a bomb." more ›

Though the NYPD and federal agents say they've "successfully disrupted" an alleged terror plot targeting public transportation in NYC, officials are still uncertain whether more suspects remain to be captured. There's also the question of a bomb factory or an explosives stockpile, which would obviously have been an indispensable part of the plot. Four "anonymous government sources" tell Newsweek that more suspects (perhaps over a dozen) are being sought, and investigators are urgently searching for the explosives. Hopefully, the NYPD will be a tad more discreet from now on. more ›

WNBC reports that on Wednesday, a "laid off construction worker left a backpack" on Pearl Street near the federal courthouse and Manhattan Correctional Center. But don't worry: It doesn't seem terror-related! U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia describes the suspect, Denis Nekrasov, 28, as a "homeless immigrant from Kyrgyzstan who had past training in math, physics and mechanical engineering. " If you read the complaint (PDF), you find that he saved the explosive materials from construction sites in hopes of making his own gun. Nekrasov had gone to 1 Police Plaza to apply for a gun-making permit and left the backpack outside since he knew he couldn't bring it inside. And when Nekrasov went to pick up his bag, authorities were waiting and he admitted his homemade gun scheme, but it was "in case he needed to protect or defend himself from others." more ›

Police suspect that a strange van filled with mysterious explosives found in Sunset Park may be linked to a landlord with a history of bomb-making activities. more ›

Disagreements over building a waste transfer station along the waterfront of Gravesend Bay in Brooklyn raised the possibility of dredging up more than just your standard pollution because possibly hundreds of tons of high explosives may be lurking underneath! more ›