keep you updated. if buses replace trains, which normally happens, we'll let you know. alexander hamilton bridge, that ride looks great. overall, we really haven't had too many problems on the roads. >> that's good. all right, emily, thank you. >>> up next, we're getting ready >> reporter: i'm katherine creag live in times square, where the biggest party on the planet will take place. more than a million people are expected to gather here . one of the main peopl e in charge just told us what is to be expected. you'll hear from him coming up. >>> i'm tracie strahan live in midtown, where investigators are trying to figure out how a man fell nine stories from this well-known hotel to his death. we'll have the latest on that straight ahead. >>> and if you're about to head out the door, take us with you. ep watching "today in new york." download the news 4 new york app what makes this simple salad the best simple salad ever? heart healthy california walnuts. the best simple veggie dish ever? heart healthy california walnuts. the best simple dinner ever? heart healthy california walnu

attention when we showed you the alexander hamilton bridge, would you have seen delays. we have reports of an accident southbound before yankee stadium. >> thanks, lauren. >>> it is 5:26. take a look at this surveillance video. this is video of thieves making off with arm fulls of furs in chelsea. it happened at madison avenue furs. the three men got will by throwing a brick through the the thieves were wearing head lamps and stole 30 fur coats valued at about 25 grand. >>> also the nypd looking for a couple who bought an engagement ring using someone else's credit card number. this this is ins on tar i can't back astoria back in act. they used a bogus credit card tied to somebody else's real account the to buy a $5200 engagement renk ing and wedding band set. >>> coming up, done in by delivery. the phone call that led investigators to the teenager who became an international fugitive. >>> plus two postal workers busted. what investigators say they were doing with the mail that they were supposed to be delivering. >>> and if you're about to head out the door, take us with you. keep watc

. commuter checklist does. no delays reported. also, what looks nice is the alexander hamilton bridge. looks like that's cleared. moving along very well. heading to the george or the other direction, going to be a pretty nice ride. for your buses this morning, no detours, no delays reported. everything is running on schedule this morning. and alternate side, meter rules are in effect. we'll have more weather and traffic. >> thank you very much. >>> 5:05. right now, increased patrols a concern in a queens neighborhood. we showed you this video yesterday morning. it's of the man who slashed a teenage student in whitestone. assemblyman ron kim tells us his office has gotten to phone calls from residents who say a similar looking man has been harassing women in that neighborhood. the victim is a 16-year-old exchange student from china. she is okay, but she could have some nerve damage. >>> happening today, a bronx man learns his fate for that drop kick assault and robbery of a woman and her baby. you can see that there on the upper part of the screen. that attack caught on camera on east

cleared. the outbound ride, that's still there. the alexander hamilton bridge, you can see the outbound commute is a little slow. it is in the clearing stages. also, a check in queens at the l.i.e. at the grand central parkway. you can see the construction is still there. right now traffic is moving along okay. as more people get on the roads, you start to see it get a little more heavy. back tothe maps where the goethals construction has a right lane blocked staten island bound. that's going to be there a few more moments. also u construction at the covered roadway. both ways between jersey avenue to tonnelle circle. an accident with a downed pole, route 82 westbound. alternate side, meter rules in up. >> thank you. >>> it is 4:47 right now. five servicemen killed during a shooting at two navy facilities in chattanooga, tennessee, will now be awarded purple hearts. it's not clear exactly when they're getting these medals, but purple hearts are given to military members killed or injured in action. investigators say the gun michigan opened fire on the men. you may remember, this was bac

. a live look at the alexander hamilton bridge this morning. not bad at all. that earlier road work has cleared. still have a little bit of road work on the fdr southbound between 71th to 63rd. still a couple lanes blocked. you can see some minor delays there. alternate side, meter rules in effect today. more weather and traffic coming up on the 4s. >> emily, thank you. >>> it is 5:17 right now on this wednesday morning. now to decision 2016 and the race for the white house. the republican candidates faced off in another debate. this time donald trump was not the only one throwing barbs. nbc's tracie potts is live in washington with reaction this morning. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: hey, good morning, darlene. we had cruz versus rubio. the big news came at the end when trump said for sure that he's going to stick with the republican party. he will not run as a third-party candidate. and he will support whoever the nominee turns out to be. this morning we are tracking social media reaction and online polls, all pointing to donald trump. >> this is a tough business to run. >> y

alexander hamilton bridge where that's a pretty good ride too. whether you're going to the george, which again looks great, or the cross box you should not have any problem. you have to move the cars today, alternate side rules in effect. >>> it is 5:16. now to decision 2016. new numbers overnight from our nbc/"wall street journal" poll show how the front-runners would fare against hillary clinton. they're out one day before the next republican debate. tracy potts is live in washington with the latest matchups. >> reporter: good morning. it's brand-new information this morning. kind of interesting. when you take a look at the fact that the top republicans have got some work to do if they want >> i think i'm going to be the one that beats hillary. >> reporter: but our numbers show right now he can't. brand gnaw at midnight from our nbc/"wall street journal" poll, both donald trump and ted cruz would lose to hillary clinton if the election were held today. trump by 10 points, cruz by 3. ben carson and marco rubio could beat her but they're not topping the field. >> they're kidding themselv

queensboro bruj this and let's look at the alexander hamilton bridge. right under thh apartments you're going to find road work. two left lanes taken up. a slow go there. picking up the construction heading the other way on the upper level inbound on the george washington bridge. your connecticut turnpike ride looks nice nood delays there. and let's take a live look by laguardia. grand central parkway, smooth go for your friday morning commute. reallyr ot going to be a bad ride there. alternhoe siee, meter rules in effect. more weather and traffic coming up on the 4s. >> emily, thank you very much. >>> 4:ss now. construction workers are recovering this morning from a serious accident that happened inin hackensack. two of tyose workers were critically injured when the scaffold they were standing on collapsed. the men fell 45 feet to the ground. we're told osha investigators are looking into what may have happened here. >>> we've learned the fbi will play a larger role in the investigation of ten sets of human remains found on long island. leadership at the suffolk county police de

the alexander hamilton bridge in the bronx. speaking of hamilton, one of the hottest shows on broadway is going on the road. "hamilton" will have a run in chicago beginning next year. chicago is just the first stop, though. there are plans to take the hip-hop musical to other cities. >>> meanwhile, you can see another hot broadway show from "the illusionist" will air a one-hour special. you can catch it at 10:00 here on nbc 4. i love that stuff. >> you like the -- >> i do. i enjoy it very much. yes, exactly. >> then you go, come on, how do they do that exactly? >> i can never figure it out. >> that's why they do what they do. and we do what we do. what we're doing today is starting to enjoy the beginning of a warming trend. temperatures will climb back into the 50s this afternoon after spending the 40s yesterday. a chilly start. intervals of clouds and sunshine. tonight, just clouds around. maybe a stray sprinkle or shower overnight in some spots. most of us are dry. look at the overnight low, 48. our low temperature is actually above our normal high for the day. the weekend, it gets e

alexander hamilton bridge. have road work that wrapped up. you should be in for a nice ride. >>> 5:31 right now. breaking news in queens. a robbery suspect is dead, shot by an off duty police officer. this all happened on 145th avenue in springfield garden. that's where "today in new york's" tracie strahan is. tracie. >> reporter: darlene, we're standing by for the nypd to release a photo of the pistol recovered from the scene. it remains unclear if it belongs to the suspect that was shot on scene or the one that was on run. this all happened at around 10:36 last night. the office duty officer called for help. he was here to see a white bmw, one that he had seen on craig's list, and had arranged to meet and view with a couple of men who are here. when he arrived, both men then tried to rob the officer. one of them pulled out that pistol. own firearm and opened fire. >> five to six gunshots, loud gunshots. and i wasn't sure, but about maybe five minutes later i heard sirens and helicopters and then i knew it was something serious. >> one suspect struck by that off duty officer was tran

off the alexander hamilton bridge heading eastbound. you'll see it's just not moving out there. that's because there is a jackknifed tractor trailer out there shutting down two lanes by jerome avenue. that's exit 2a. you can see delays building quickly out there. not affecting the george washington bridge just yet. we also have an accident heading parkway out before exit 22. that one is on the right shoulder. again, not much of a delay. we still have this water main break out there on route 1-9 southbound. alternate side of the street parking rules in effect today. more weather and traffic ahead. >> thanks so much, lauren. >>> 5:47 right now. new jersey's bear hunt begins today. this year hunting is expanding into areas of passaic and mercer counties where suburbban bears have become a problem. >>> in connecticut, a high school wrestling coach won't be in class this morning following a drug arrest. police in westport pulled over david bernstein for erratic driving on saturday morning. officers say they found cocaine in his car. he was also wanted on a warrant for failure to app

be "hamilton," a brand new starring? you. tell us all about it. >> alexander hamilton was an immigrant and came here, came from nothing, and ended up creating the u.s. treasury. so that sounds sort of political and boring when i say it that way, but he also -- >> but when you sing it and do this t changes everything. >> and rap it. also, the entire cast -- >> alexander hamilton came from far. he had nothing, not even a car. so he started the u.s. treasury, and now that's called the economy. bam! >> what! >> okay! >> well, all righty then. and you can watch a full half hour of "talk stoop" with cat greenleaf every sunday at 9:00 p.m. on cozi-tv. go, cat. >>> next at 7:00, a check of the forecast. plus, our top stories. >> including that suspicious fire in queens. >> reporter: and lightning may not strike twice, but an arsonist can. and three times, and four times, and more. >>> now on "today in new york," the hunt for a serial arsonist who struck again overnight in queens apparently. we'll tell you who police are looking for. >> tens of thousands waking up to power this mornin

. it is in the clearing stages. also, a look at alexander hamilton bridge. if you're leaving the city, still a little slow there too. earlier road work under the apartments. alternate side, meter rules in effect. we'll have more weather and traffic on the 4s. >> thanks so much, emily. >>> an ex-fiance of actor charlin sheen is suing him over his admission of having hiv. she claims sheen did not disclose he was hiv positive until after they had sex several times. the suit also alleges sheen was physically and emotiwnally abusive. an attorney for sheen says he will vigorously fight her claims. >>> we're now learning what caused that deadly brooklyn building explosion back in we're told a ton nafont intentionally started that fire. authorities say she spread gasoline around the hallway and in her apartment and ignited it. figueroa and a neighbor died in those flames. >>> and we've learned that a seemcond person has died from a house explosion last month in elizabeth, new jersey, that sent splintered wood flying in the air. the victim was one of 15 pl ple who was hurt in the blast. she wa

the turnpike extension or local streets. we'll take a live look outside at the alexander hamilton bridge. things are moving along nicely on the cross bronx expressway. those roads are wet out there. delays have eased out that were into the inbound upper level tolls at the george washington 35-mile-per-hour speed restriction this morning. something else to keep in mind. heading over to the grand central parkway by laguardia airport, smooth sailing here as well. just take it easy. recommend driving slowly this morning. alternate side of the street parking rules in effect today. >> okay, lauren. thank you. >>> 4:48 right now. chicago's top officer is out, and now there's new pressure for the mayor to step down as well. new accusations suggest mayor rahm emanuel took part in a cover-up. many critics say video of the shooting that killed laquan mcdonald was suppressed for a year because the mayor feared it would keep him from being re-elected. emanuel fired police superintendent garry mccarthy. emanuel insists releasing the video earlier would have hampered the investigation. >> mr. mc

bronx expressway. smooth sailing all the way to the alexander hamilton bridge. no signs of a slowdown just yet. alternate side of the street parking rules in effect. next weather and traffic on the 4s. >>> 5:47. the state department released the largest batch of hillary some exchanges were centered around the 2012 benghazi attacks. she was sent declassified information days after. one group shows her camp was careful. an aide wrote, quote, it was classified so we could not e-mail you. in another she asked an aide about which channel homeland was on in washington, d.c. >> our consumer alert for holiday shoppers who have a tech toy on their list. hackers have hit the toy maker vtech. the hong kong based company says the personal information of 5 million customers and their children has been come pro meegsed. vtech says hackers targeted that i recall app store called learning lodge accessing the database with names, genders, even pictures of young users. social security and credit card information though was not breached. >>> colorful laundry detergent pods may be getting a new look in n