Two Queens women are being held without bail for allegedly plotting to build a bomb in order to carry out a terror attack here in the U.S.
Noelle Velentzas, 28, and Asia Siddiqui, 31, appeared in Brooklyn federal court Thursday.
They were arrested following a sting operation by the FBI and the NYPD.
Court papers show authorities found three gas tanks, a pressure cooker, fertilizer, recipes for making bombs and jihadist literature in both of their homes.
Prosecutors say Velentzas idolized Osama bin Laden and considered targeting the funerals for slain detectives Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu.
Siddiqui is accused of writing a poem for an al-Qaeda magazine encouraging readers to wage jihad.
Her lawyer says they are ready to fight the charges.
FBI agents say the public was never in any real danger during the investigation.
Residents in the Briarwood neighborhood where Siddiqui lives tells NY1 her family has owned the home for several decades but have rarely seen people outside.
"The house belonged to her father if I remember. The family the Siddiqui moved out of there in the 90's. I think, I don't want to be mistaken, she is one of those two little girls who moved there when the family moved in," said one neighbor.
"We see garbage like mattress, a rug. It was always garbage. Like big pieces of furniture. Nothing much, never people," said another neighbor.
Meantime, the husband of one of the two women involved in the alleged terror plot says he was shocked when federal agents came to arrest his wife.
Abu Bakr is married to Velentzas.
Speaking exclusively with NY1, he says he never heard either of the women speak of any terrorist activities - even when they all briefly lived together.
"I'm surprised. Just like it was a knock at the door and everything changed. I didn't see anything like this happening. I didn't see anything like this coming. I'm just right now at a loss for words," Bakr said.
Charles Aziz Bilal, the Imam at the mosque Velentzas and Siddiqui attend, says he never heard them discussing any terror plot.
He says the women have been going there for five years, and is now worried about how people will view the mosque.
"That's not what we promote here, we have publicized that many many times here. It's not our faith to deal with any kind of terrorism or whatever it is, that's not what the religion is all about," Bilal said.
Velentzas is the mother of two girls - a five-year-old who is biological and an 11-year-old who is adopted.
Both Velentzas and Siddiqui are due back in court on May 4.