Authorities in New York City prevented a terror bomb plot on Wednesday at the heart of the city. A 21-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday in New York City after he attempted to blow up a bomb next to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, authorities said.

The man, Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis from Bangladesh, parked a van with what he believed were 1,000 pounds of explosive material next to the Federal Reserve building in the Financial District, about three blocks from the World Trade Center.

"The defendant thought he was striking a blow to the American economy. He thought he was directing confederates and fellow believers. At every turn, he was wrong, and his extensive efforts to strike at the heart of the nation's financial system were foiled by effective law enforcement," U.S. Attorney Loretta E. Lynch said in a statement, according to CNN.

In a statement he wrote to claim responsibility for the attack, he referred to "our beloved Sheikh Osama bin Laden," according to the report.

Prosecutors say Nafis wanted to "destroy America" by going after its economy. Apart from the Fed, he mentioned other targets such as the New York Stock Exchange and a high ranking U.S. official, according to NBC New York.

Nafis came to the United States in January with a student visa, with the sole purpose to conduct a terrorist attack, according to Lynch.

Prosecutors say he sought help from al-Qaida members in the U.S. and recruited an undercover FBI agent posing as an al-Qaida facilitator. The FBI and the New York Police Department monitored him as he developed the attack, according to NBC New York.

The undercover agent supplied him with 20-50 pound bags of what he thought were explosives to use in the bombing.

Nafis met the FBI agent Wednesday morning and drove with him in the van to the Fed building. They parked the van outside the Fed and walked to a nearby hotel where he planned to record the explosion and release it as a statement.

He then tried to blow the bomb but failed and he was arrested, according to NBC New York.

Nafis is scheduled to appear in federal court in Brooklyn later Wednesday.