NEW YORK — A 21-year-old man arrested on charges he plotted to blow up the Federal Reserve building in New York City is being held without bail after appearing in federal court.

Officials say Quazi Nafis was arrested Wednesday morning after a sting operation. Authorities say he parked a van filled with what he believed were explosives outside the building and tried to detonate it.

His bomb was not real, though, and his associates actually were undercover officers who arrested him.

Wearing a brown T-shirt and black jeans, Nafis did not enter a plea during a brief court appearance Wednesday afternoon in Brooklyn. His defense attorney had no comment outside court.

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Federal prosecutors say Nafis was monitored closely by the FBI and members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, and the public was never in danger.

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