So from behind bars, he plotted to have a key witness against him killed. He hired an undercover investigator posing as a hit man, issued instructions to make the murder look like a gang attack and said he wished he could be there to see the witness suffer, prosecutors said.

The “Economic Trends In New York State” report by Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said the state’s economy remains fragile.

The report found that Rochester, New York City and the Glens Falls areas were the only regions to outpace the state average in job growth since late 2009.

The Rochester metropolitan area, as other employment reports have shown, had by far the strongest recovery — regaining 98 percent of the jobs lost in the recession. The region lost 18,500 jobs between July 2008 and December 2009 and regained all but 400, the report said.

“It’s still us against the world,” said Coughlin, recalling the rallying cry used by the 12-point underdog Giants who denied New England’s bid for the first 19-0 season. “That’s the way we play it, period. We’re still the underdogs. We still have an awful lot to prove.”

The executive — Kareem Serageldin (kuh-REEM’ SEHR’-uh-jehl-dihn) — was charged Wednesday with conspiracy, falsifying books and records, and wire fraud. The charges carry a potential penalty of 45 years in prison. Authorities say $5.2 million of his pay was taken away after Credit Suisse discovered the fraud.

Despite temperate temperatures so far this year, “it’s our rebellion against winter,” says Jonathan Daou, founder and CEO of Openhouse Gallery, a company that holds a 20-year lease on the space at 201 Mulberry St.

On a recent chilly weekday afternoon, babies played barefoot in the 75-degree world of Park Here while their mothers and fathers sipped tea, eating cookies and sandwiches.

One night, a movie is planned on the lawn; other days bring a ping pong competition, a trivia contest, wine tastings and soccer workshops.

The 5,000-square-foot artificial habitat in the downtown Nolita neighborhood is filled with trees, rocks, picnic benches and the recorded ambient sounds of Central Park in spring. There are giant cushions and even a hammock, plus a baby elephant.

But the park will be gone by mid-February.

The rest of the year, the 200-year-old former police precinct is a stage for business that plays on the “pop-up” retail method mushrooming around the world in recent years: a quick presentation of a product, performance or personality, with no commitment to a lease or contract.

It’s usually set up in a mobile unit that can be assembled and disappear.

Some call it guerrilla retail.

“You’re not stuck with a 10-year lease if the product doesn’t sell,” Daou says. “People are looking for novelty, off the beaten path, and this space tests the ‘legs’ of a business concept.”

The space was part of a police precinct in the late 1890s under New York Police Commissioner Theodore Roosevelt, who later became U.S. president.

But there’s nothing historic about what’s going on inside. On the contrary, it’s all the rage in retail.

In New York last year, the Japanese clothing giant Uniqlo erected four state-of-the-art pop-up shops to highlight the opening of its flagship store on Fifth Avenue and another near Herald Square.

Also last year, in California, chef Jamie Oliver rolled around in his “Food Revolution” truck, a mobile kitchen classroom designed pro bono by David Rockwell to travel to communities and teach kids, parents and professionals about healthy cooking and eating.

And in Germany, the prized caterer Kofler & Kompanie opened a pop-up restaurant, with a rotating roster of star chefs and moving locations.

New York’s temporary urban garden may go away, but the location will continue to host various vendors.

In August, Jay-Z and Kanye West used Openhouse Gallery for the rollout of their “Watch The Throne” album. When Jay-Z tweeted “201 Mulberry Street, NYC,” thousands of people swarmed outside for a sighting and the block was closed to traffic.

Since its inception four years ago, Openhouse Gallery has created installations for high-end clients such as auto manufacturer Mercedes-Benz, a group of Italian leather tanneries and Google. Other setups involved skating and stadium seating for World Cup soccer viewing.

“It’s .2 acres with so much positive energy,” Daou says.

As the spokesman for America’s largest police force, Deputy Police Commissioner Browne is one of the most important — yet largely unknown — newsmakers around. From Occupy Wall Street to the arrest of the International Monetary Fund chief, he’s at the center of some of the globe’s biggest stories.

It was not a call he was expecting to get.

“I looked at it and I was like, ‘Eli Manning?’ Is this working?” Cruz recalled. “It was cool to see his name pop up on my phone.”

That was back when Cruz was an unknown, unsure of his spot on the Giants’ roster, and still hoping for his first reception in the league. This phone call wasn’t just a thrill, though. It was one of the most important calls he ever received.

A few days later, Cruz was out on the field at Hoboken High School for the start of a loosely organized — and much-ridiculed — passing camp organized by the Giants’ franchise quarterback during the NFL lockout. Only 12 different players showed up for the six, hour-long workouts in early May, and never more than a few at a time.

Cruz made all but one of the sessions, and nobody benefitted from them more.

“We got close,” Manning said. “We did a lot of slot work (with him) and making decisions and reads and just talking through things. And obviously he’s a guy who’s had a great season. I’d like to think that work paid off.”

The three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals explained why it lifted the ban last year and blocked a judge from staging a trial to decide if the judgment was obtained fairly.

Lawyers for alleged plotter Adis Madunjanin had demanded to know the identity of the man, referred to only as John Doe in court papers, before Madunjanin goes to trial later this year.

A Hals scholar, Seymour Slive, had listed the painting as a “doubtful” Hals in a 1974 catalog, based on a black and white photo of the work. After Taylor hung it in her home in the 1950s, “It academically fell off the radar,” said Nicholas Hall, head of Christie’s Old Master paintings.