The Associated Press

Police on Monday were working to determine whether a series of suspected arson attacks against an Islamic cultural center and three other locations in Queens were linked, and were investigating the incidents as bias crimes against Muslims.

Dozens of Occupy Wall Street protesters were arrested on New Year's Eve as they tore down barricades surrounding New York City's Zuccotti Park, the former home of their encampment that was dismantled several weeks ago.

The union that represents cleaning staffers at more than 1,500 New York City office buildings says negotiations are continuing as Saturday's strike deadline approaches.

The new year will bring something that's become old hat for New Jersey residents: more costs associated with driving.

Concerns over vehicle and driver safety led federal regulators to shut down a bus company that took passengers from several cities to New York City's Chinatown.

James Rizzi, a New York-born and based pop artist best known for his playful and childlike three-dimensional sculptures, has died. He was 61.

A federal appeals panel has upheld the convictions and sentences of five New Jersey men who were convicted of planning to attack Fort Dix or other military bases, though it threw out one charge against one defendant.

Federal investigators have released a preliminary report on last week's plane crash in New Jersey that killed five people.

A New York City judge says his decision blocking a $285 million settlement over toxic mortgage securities should stand.

Connecticut officials said a Christmas morning fire that killed a couple and three of their grandchildren was caused by old fireplace embers.

Sears Holdings Corp. plans to close between 100 and 120 Sears and Kmart stores after poor sales during the holidays, the most crucial time of year for retailers.

A man who died with his wife and three grandchildren in a Christmas morning house fire in Connecticut spent his career trying to prevent fires as safety chief at a liquor company in Kentucky.

The New York National Guard unit that conducts military funerals throughout the state had its busiest year ever in 2011.

A house severely damaged in a Christmas morning fire that killed three children and two grandparents, one of whom worked as Santa Claus at Saks Fifth Avenue, has been torn down.

More than 1,600 people who filed lawsuits claiming that their health was ruined by dust and smoke from the collapsed World Trade Center must decide by Jan. 2 whether to keep fighting in court, or drop the litigation and apply for benefits from a government compensation fund.

The city's response to the 2010 post-Christmas blizzard is still costing it a year later, with more than $1.8 million paid out in claims so far, and more claims still pending, according to the city comptroller's office.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Gov. Rick Perry have failed to qualify for Virginia's March 6 Republican primary, a setback in their bids for the Republican presidential nomination.

President Barack Obama has signed a bill that honors victims of the Sept. 11 attacks with congressional medals.

A New York City man accused in the torching death of a 73-year-old woman in an elevator has been charged with murder.

A federal judge says a major New Jersey hospital and 12 nurses who claimed they were forced to assist in abortions over their religious and moral objections have reached a deal.