Terror Arrest in NYC Means City Remains a High Priority Target

(Newsroom America) -- The arrest this week in New York City of a Bangladeshi national suspected of planning a bombing attack reminded authorities once again that the financial capital of the world remains a high priority on the list of cities targeted by terrorists.

Since the 9/11 attacks more than a decade ago, some 15 terror plots have been uncovered by federal, state and local authorities, the New York Police Department said. Previous targets have included the Brooklyn Bridge, Times Square, the city's subway system, Citicorp Center and the New York Stock Exchange, USA Today reported.

This past week, the Federal Reserve Bank in the heart of Lower Manhattan's financial district was added to that growing list, the paper said.

In a written statement claiming his intent to launch an attack, Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis said he chose his target as a way to strike the U.S. economy, with a final goal to "destroy America."

Nafis was ordered held without bond during a brief court appearance Wednesday.

New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly says the city seems resigned to the fact that it will most probably remain on terrorists' list of choice targets.

"Al-Qaeda operatives and those they have inspired have tried time and again to make New York City their killing field," he said, adding: "Vigilance is our watch word."

New York U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch alleged the suspect, who traveled to the U.S. in January on a student visa, came with the intent of forming a "terror cell."

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