NEW YORK - Two US residents, including one who complained that the world was treating Muslims "like dogs," bought guns and a grenade and wanted to carry out a terror plot against a New York synagogue, officials said Thursday.

One of the alleged homegrown terrorists also expressed interest in bombing the Empire State Building, police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.

But there was no indication that the plot, orchestrated as part of a sting operation, ever put New Yorkers in danger and no evidence that the men were affiliated with any terrorist organization.

Ahmed Ferhani, a 26-year-old of Algerian descent, and Mohamed Mamdouh, a 20-year-old of Moroccan descent, plotted to bomb a "major synagogue" in Manhattan and bought several weapons and an inert hand grenade from an undercover officer, city officials said in announcing the arrests.

Ferhani and Mamdouh were arraigned in Manhattan court late Thursday afternoon. Ferhani wore a pin-striped suit and carried a Yankees cap; Mamdouh was wearing jeans. They were being held without bail and face life in prison if convicted.

Their attorneys said the two denied the charges.

"Mr. Ferhani tells me he hasn't committed any crime at all," said lawyer Stephen Pokart.

Mamdouh's attorney, Steven Fusfeld, said that even under the prosecutors' version of the events, which he didn't say was true, Mamdouh's alleged involvement is less than Ferhani's and it wasn't right to treat them equally.

"My client says he is not guilty of these crimes," he said. "He's upset because he maintains he committed no crime."

Officials said investigators had been using an undercover detective wearing a wire to track Ferhani for several months. They said the detective heard Ferhani say he hated Jews and was fed up with the way Muslims - especially Palestinians - were treated around the world.

"They're treating us like dogs," Ferhani said once, according to Kelly.

Ferhani is also the one who expressed interest in the Empire State Building attack, Kelly said.

According to a criminal complaint drafted under state terror laws, Ferhani told the detective about "his intent to participate in jihad," meaning holy war, and that "he would become a martyr."

Over time, Ferhani "showed a pattern of growing anger," Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said.

"His plans became bigger and more violent with every passing week," Vance said.

The undercover detective and the men had several meetings during which Ferhani discussed the idea of attacking a synagogue, the complaint said. Mamdouh emphasized the need for proper training, the complaint said, so they would not get caught like "the one that put the car in Times Square" - a reference to the failed bombing last year by Faisal Shahzad.

Ferhani was so aware of the possibility of getting caught he suggested renting a farmhouse upstate where they could shoot weapons to train and speak freely, police said.

Ferhani suggested disguising himself as a worshipping Jew so he could infiltrate a synagogue and leave a bomb inside, the complaint said. He also discussed using grenades, "and described pulling the pins and throwing them into the synagogue," it added.

"It was clear that they intended to do that bombing on behalf of Islam and to send a message to the Jewish population," Assistant District Attorney Margaret Gandy told a judge.

On May 5, the undercover detective introduced the men to another officer pretending to be an illegal gun dealer at a meeting where Ferhani stated he needed the weapons "for the cause," the complaint said.

"We gonna be victorious," it quoted Ferhani as saying.

At a roadside meeting Wednesday on Manhattan's West Side, one of the undercover officers handed Ferhani a bag holding three handguns, three boxes of ammo and the inert grenade.

As soon as Ferhani put the bag into the trunk of a car, he was arrested, the complaint said. Mamdouh, who had been dropped off nearby, was arrested soon afterward.