The Takeaway is continuing its coverage of the foiled New York City terror plot. Four men were arrested in an alleged plot to bomb two synagogues in New York City and shoot down military planes in Newburgh, N.Y. According to law enforcement officers, the plan was "aspirational" -- that is, it wasn't close to being realized. How did operatives infiltrate the group and quash their plans? And how did they decide when to bust the would-be bombers? To help answer those questions we turn to Bob Hennelly, a reporter at WNYC, and to Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert at the RAND corporation.

More of The Takeaway's coverage of the terror plot:
A Terror Plot in New York City

New York Times' Police Bureau Chief Al Baker joins The Takeaway with an update on the unfolding terrorism story in New York City. Four men were arrested Wednesday night in what the authorities said was a plot to bomb two synagogues in the Bronx and shoot down military planes at an Air National Guard base in Newburgh, N.Y. Three of the men are American citizens. Officials say that local citizens were not at risk because the group was infiltrated by law enforcement early on, long before the plot could come to fruition.

For more, read Al Baker's article, 4 Accused of Bombing Plot at Bronx Synagogues in the New York Times.

Here Joe Demarest of the FBI discusses the arrest of the four men accused of terrorism in New York:

The FBI and NYPD are hailing the arrests of four men in an alleged plot to bomb two synagogues in New York City. Officials say the men were also plotting to shoot down military planes at an Air National Guard base in Newburgh, NY, with stinger missiles. Officials say the plan did not pose any real threat: the group had been infiltrated by government agents early on. For an update, we have WNYC reporter Bob Hennelly and M. J. Gohel, the executive director of the Asia Pacific Foundation, an independent security and global terrorism think tank in London.

President Obama called for major changes to American educational system yesterday. Among those changes are for states to lift limits on charter schools and improve the quality of early childhood education. Joining The Takeaway to talk about these changes is Seth Andrew, the founder and head of the Democracy Prep Charter School in Harlem and Pedro Noguera, sociology professor and head of the Metropolitan Center for Urban Education at New York University.

To make his living, Peter Franklin drives a yellow cab in New York City. As he makes his way around the city, ferrying customers from point A to point B, Peter has a knack for getting people to talk on subjects as erudite as global economic indicators and domestic policy. Now he has turned those daily conversations into a report for BBC radio and other outlets around the world. He joins us now for his take on life in New York City.

For more from the Gabby Cabby, check out his website and the BBC series Up All Night .