San Francisco: A former hire car driver chose to bomb one of New York City's busiest subway corridors because of its Christmas-themed posters, law enforcement officials said following the explosion that sent peak-hour commuters into a frenzy at the start of the working week.

Akayed Ullah, who moved to the US from Bangladesh on a family visa seven years ago, was "angry" and learnt how to build a bomb on the internet at his Brooklyn apartment, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

But the 27-year-old allegedly hoped to wreak far more destruction when he detonated an improvised device on the underground walkway between the Times Square and Port Authority subway stations just after 7.20am on Monday, local time.

The low-tech homemade pipe bomb, strapped to his abdomen with Velcro strips and cable ties, didn't detonate properly.