The message has been simple. And it’s been delivered during the offseason over and over again like a politician’s slogan.

Tom Coughlin’s mantra for the New York Giants in 2010 is something that Olivia Newton-John would wholeheartedly endorse.

It’s time for the Giants to get physical again.

Holidaymakers be warned, the friendliest inhabitants of New York may not be the people, but the bedbugs that have taken to lurking in the city’s mattresses.

The Big Apple is under siege from a rampant bed-bug infestation that has invaded the city and the problem has become so widespread that a ‘bedbug battle plan’ has been launched to deal with the critters.

A wave of racially-motivated attacks against Hispanics have prompted police to step up patrols in New York City’s Staten Island, authorities said Wednesday.

Both uniformed and plainclothes police were added to the patrols in the city’s least populated borough, More >

Two accused Islamist militants on trial for conspiracy to bomb a New York airport were egged on by a government informant, with one being all talk and the other a bystander, their lawyers said on Monday. “These guys have seen too many Bruce Willis movies,” defense attorney Mildred Whalen told
jurors about Russel Defreitas, 67, a naturalized US citizen from Guyana, and Abdul Kadir, 58, of Guyana.

The men are charged with conspiring to blow up buildings, fuel tanks and pipelines at John F Kennedy International Airport in New York. The plot was far from operational when they were arrested in June 2007.

The Dow Jones industrial average has had its third straight triple-digit advance after investors got some unexpected good news about the economy.

The Commerce Department reported a better-than-expected jump in new home sales for June. Sales rebounded from a record low in May to an annual rate of 330,000 units, more than economists expected.

Even if you can’t get tickets to Arcade Fire’s show in New York City next month, you can still have a front-row seat. The Montreal-based indie-rock band will stream its Aug. 5 show live on YouTube from Madison Square Garden. The band releases its new disc, The Suburbs, with eight different album covers on Aug. 3. This week, the band released a 40-second promotion for the upcoming webcast concert.

New York police Wednesday said they have arrested a suspect who robbed banks brandishing nothing more threatening than a bunch of flowers.

Edward Pemberton, 44, a suspect in two bank robberies this month, was arrested in Brooklyn, New York Police Chief Raymond Kelly told reporters.

A robber robbed a New York bank armed only with a bunch of fresh flowers and a threatening note.

From CCTV pictures, the robber could be seen standing at the counter of a Manhattan branch of the Bank of Smithtown clutching the bouquet, before pulling out the note, “Don’t be a hero”, and showing it to the cashier.

The New York City community board endorsed the Cordoba House, a community center and mosque planned for construction near Ground Zero.

Significant opposition has emerged against the project. Sarah Palin even weighed in this weekend, tweeting, “Peace-seeking Muslims, pls understand, Ground Zero mosque is UNNECESSARY provocation; it stabs hearts. Pls reject it in interest of healing.”

Should there be a mosque near Ground Zero?

Thierry Henry practiced with the New York Red Bulls for the first time since signing with the MLS team earlier this week.

Henry and the Red Bulls worked out on Friday at Montclair State University. While the 32-year-old wants to play in Saturday night’s MLS game at Columbus, the team is going to delay his debut until next week because he has not played since the World Cup almost three weeks ago.