indicated he wants to steal a plane. so far he's not been formally charged. >> we'll have more tonight at 11:00. natural gas explosion. that's what investigators believe destroyed a complex in elizabeth, new jersey this morning. >> the blast leveled the townhouse and damaged a half dozen other nearby homes. one man was killed and at least 15 others hurt, some of them seriously. >> we want to show you a google image of what the building looked like before and now after the blast. eyewitness news reporter josh einiger at the scene with another lead story tonight. >> let me show you exactly what's going on back out there. there's the house that exploded. you can see utility crews looking at something down on the street level just in front of that house. they're trying to get to the bottom of exactly what sparked this. i want to show you what's happening behind me. utility crews work right now to rip up streets all through this neighborhood.

have contributed to this deadly explosion. >> reporter: the blast was so powerful, video from a nearby business shows chunks from the building rocketing in to the air as the house deteriorated in momeths. -- in moments. >> i got scared. my sister was screaming. i thought it was an airplane crash. >> the explosion pancaked the second floor on to the first floor. >> when it was over, one person was dead. rescue workers were scrambling to pull others to safety. even now they can't be sure everyone made it out. >> it's going to take a lot of hours to take this off layer by layer and make sure there's no one else in there. >> reporter: officials blame the explosion on what they call a gas episode on the second floor of the multifamily home. the force of the blast leveled the building and severely damaged the house next door. aside from the one fatality, two people were critically hurt including an 11-year-old boy. more than a dozen others also injured. officials believe the casualty count because school was out for veterans day. still the mayor

of elizabeth says it could have been even worse. >> we're on the scene very quickly otherwise these people would have never survived. >> you can see what's left of the house. not much and two of the buildings on either side are terribly, terribly damaged. several dozen people displaced from their homes right now as the red cross works to help them find a place to stay for the night. live in elizabeth, new jersey, josh einiger, channel 7 eyewitness news. >> the survivor of that deadly house explosion describing the scene as waking up from a nightmare. wayne shepherd sleeping on the second floor apartment when the house next door suddenly exploded. his house and 10-month-old son also in front of the home. shaken, they stumbled out of the rubble to safety. >> she had just taken him out of his bedroom and his bedroom window is directly across the house that exploded. >> paramedics taking them to the hospital.

30 people from all three homes are staying at hotels tonight. we ask yo stay with abc7ny and eyewitness news for updates on this house explosion throughout the night. we have complete coverage tonight at 11:00. a child therapist in new jersey is charged tonight with sexually abusing a teenage patient and investigators say they fear there could be more prosecutors say he violated the trust of the 16-year-old in the worst eyewitness news reporter darla miles is in clifton tonight with the story. >> federal prosecutors say elliot halberstam once bragged about his expert ability to lure a child in to his hotel room. >> reporter: the e-mails and texts laid out in this 15-page

triple x film. 38-year-old child therapist elliot halberstam was arrested tuesday morning at his bergenfield home. he's charged with sexual exploitation, enticement in child pornography, accused of persuading the teen to take explicit photos of himself. one of the less explicit e-mails allegedly reads, take a video of yourself but this is the best way for you to see what you look like when you're actually having sex. >> he should be ashamed of himself. it's unbelievable. >> reporter: and halberstam is accused of having the teen perform a sex act in an office. some people who live in this new jersey town are not happy about what they hear. >> i have grand kids and i wouldn't appreciate a doctor doing that. >> reporter: jewish family service issued a written statement saying we are

in trying to learn more about the situation. a chief concern of course is the privacy and welfare of our clients. >> it's not right. you send your kid to therapy and it's very wrong to know that goes on. i hope more kids like this will come forward and tell us, tell anybody, family members and make this stop. >> prosecutors say that this 16-year-old victim was in halberstam's care since 2011 but the abuse only began in march of this year. if you have any information about this suspect or this case, call the fbi at 212-384-1000. darla miles, channel 7 eyewitness news. scores of new york city police officers are outside the mayor's home at gracie mansion right now protesting a contract proposal. last week you may recall a mediator gave nypd officers a 1% raise each year

police commissioner bratton were hoping officers would receive a the dispute is over a retroactive contract covering 2010 through 2012. november 11th, veterans day in the united states, remembering the men and women who served in the armed forces. president obama laying a wreath at the tomb of the unknowns in arlington. here in new york a ceremony this afternoon, the intrepid sea, air, and space the largest veterans day in the former manhattan da who served in the navy in world war ii. also in the parade, two new york cops who served together in iraq. their special bond, here's kemberly richardson. >> reporter: it's the country's largest veterans day parade and right in the middle of things, this pair, friends by chance, now colleagues by design. >> i had had this opportunity and to be honest with you i can't believe i'm here.

avenue shoulder to shoulder with nypd deputy inspector justin. donovan is a command sergeant major. back in 2003 the men first met while stationed together in iraq, military police for the army national guard. >> i was intrigued by the stories he would tell and the operations and so many of the other soldiers in the unit that also influenced my knowledge of the nypd. it's just something that stayed with me throughout the years. >> reporter: so much so, donovan, who always dreamed of joining the nypd, did just that. graduated from the academy and was sworn in in january. in a show of support, justin gave donovan the shield he wore for so many years. >> i saw it was available and we had a conversation and i said hey, it brought me good luck as a police officer. if you'd like to have it, i can make it happen. >> for this west point grad,

population about 5,000, he admits new york city is different. his accent? >> it's a good ice breaker. i use it to my advantage. >> reporter: he's up to the challenge. here to stay thanks to a good friend. >> i have a lot to learn and make my own way and we'll see how it goes. >> kemberly richardson, channel 7 eyewitness news. breaking news to tell you about. police in new york investigating the death of a former knicks draft pick. his body found in an suv in brooklyn days after reported missing from clauster, new jersey. aj ross is there with new information. >> former knicks draft pick michael wright was reported missing sunday. he was last seen in this community thursday afternoon and his body was mysteriously discovered inside his car in brooklyn just yesterday. a chicago native,

wright played for the university of arizona before being drafted by the knicks in the second round of the 2001 nba draft. he was later cut from the team and has been since playing for a variety of overseas teams in between living in new jersey. tuesday the 35-year-old's body was found underneath garbage bags inside his suv on east 16th in brooklyn. detectives are interested in a wound above his eyebrow that could indicate a more serious injury and we're looking in to whether this could possibly be a criminal act. investigators are looking in to wright's recent involvement in an online dating site and right now the medical examiner is trying to determine the exact cause of death. there's been an outpouring social media, including the university of arizona ex-proseing condolences. we'll bring you much more on the story coming up on eyewitness news at 11:00. aj ross, channel 7 eyewitness news. as we continue with eyewitness news at 6:00 on this

wednesday night, the owner of the new jersey devils keeps his helicopter running on a local soccer field. forcing young kids to cancel their soccer game. we'll tell you what the team and the devils' owner are saying tonight. >> plus last year's mysterious disappearance, malaysia airlines plane, today leading to worldwide action. there's a new way planes will be tracked while in the air. >> just when the skies are clearing from one storm, there's another one ready to move in. we have to time out another rainstorm for tomorrow. 56

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with his hat trick in hand, a gigantic maricopa. >> his personal helicopter landing on the soccer field where a kids game was supposed to happen. instead the game was canceled and the kids really bummed. >> rule number 7, hard to play soccer when there's a helicopter on the field. here's eyewitness news reporter rob nelson. >> sometimes games get canceled because of weather. other times because of wealth. >> they're waiting around, looking forward to playing, then this happens. >> reporter: two local soccer teams from a premier youth league were set to play sunday night at the field next to st. benedict's prep school in newark but this pesky helicopter landed on the minutes before kick-off.

the chopper belongs to josh harris, owner of the new jersey devils, who were playing nearby at the prudential center that night. >> the new jersey devils are watching play [ inaudible ] >> reporter: unfortunately the devils game ended up going in to overtime, meaning harris was late getting back to the field for his luxurious ride home. by 8:00 the teams decided to cancel the game all together. earlier today we talked to sean sweeney who coaches one of the teams. >> these parents invest a lot of time and money in to kids playing and everyone enjoys it. they're looking forward to it that weekend and the game gets canceled so it was disappointing. we managed to reschedule the game. >> reporter: harris, a dad whose own kids play sports, clearly feels bad about what happened and apologized in a statement today. quote, while i can't take back what happened, i hope the coaches, the teams, and their families would be open to being my guest at an upcoming devils game and i will be

extending an invitation. >> just to be clear, harris did not do anything wrong. he and others do have an agreement with the school to use this field as a heli pad, basically the school and harris talking this up to a miscommunication and are working on ways to make sure something like this does not happen again. rob nelson, channel 7 eyewitness news. a major deal at the u.n. will allow satellites to track airplanes. the changes were motivated following the disappearance of malaysia airlines flight 370 last year. right now planes are monitored by land based radar system. that leaves about 70% of the world's surface uncovered. radio frequencies will now be set aside so when a plane sends an automatic distress signal it will be picked up by ground radar as well as satellites. just ahead on eyewitness news at 6:00, lee goldberg says we could get some more rain

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breaking news to tell you about, involves the subway. a passenger has been injured. number 6 trains now running express between 125th and grand central. some southbound 6 trains will end at hunts point avenue or third avenue. expect delays on the 4 and 5 as well in both directions. turned out to be a really pretty crystal clear night out there despite how things started this morning. >> way more comfortable right now than at any point during the morning hours. a pleasant evening. nice and dry as we finish up a better veterans day during the afternoon hours. dried out for the parade and empire state building in veterans colors, red, white, and blue. many thanks to our veterans. our temperatures at 56 degrees right now. north wind has gotten pretty light after being breezy this morning. another day above average. tomorrow will be as well. another day we'll be tallying the rainfall totals. about a quarter inch or less. previous storm, .7 in new york city.

closing in on two inches in toms river. weather headlines, another batch of rain tomorrow. fairly light. it is brighter friday. sun is back. looks nicer out the window than it feels because the wind is cranking up. some gusts over 30. maybe gusts over 40. later friday but especially in to saturday morning. 56, soho. 57, wood haiv haven. 55 -- 57, woodhaven. 55 in yonkers. some 40s to the north and west. stronger winds now offshore. lighter winds, if not calm off to the west. light wind, partial clearing first part of the night. then the clouds tend to thicken up later tonight in to the morning. if there's a shower, it's probably over parts of central and northern new jersey. sneaking in to the catskills. better chance late morning in to the late afternoon hours so it could probably get in to the evening commute but then leave the scene during the commute. right now the clouds are breaking up. a couple late

day sprinkles over the east end. high pressure here, just briefly. just through early tomorrow morning and already the clouds are coming in with that high. very dynamic system through the upper midwest. big astros. rockies in to the plains. thunderstorms causing tornados here but the real strong part of the storm. that bypasses us to the north. we get this part of it light rain tomorrow morning. it's more widespread after 11:00 and going to 5:00, 6:00 in the evening hours. here comes the gusty wind friday. 58. wind makes it feel cooler. you'll need the sun glasses and heavier coat. here's your accuweather forecast. 50. early morning hours, want to beat the rain? out the door by 8:00. period of rain or two during the day. should wind down in the afternoon. gusty wind. gusting near 30 or 40 in the day. and strong gust ing in to saturday. that 52 feels like 40s and the

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i know lee is not interested in this game between the giants and patriots. >> big test for everybody. one of the best things the giants have going for them in sunday's battle against the unbeaten patriots may be the head coach himself. tom coughlin, 5-1. still going to be tough. when the going

gets tough, laura behnke gets going to the meadowlands. >> the patriots, undefeated and potentially unbeatable with the giants standing in their way. sound familiar? in 2007 big blue ended new england's bid for perfection in their first of two super bowl wins over the pats. sunday they meet again. >> it's a new year. it's a nu-- a new scheme: all of those things. by and large, that's in the past. >> reporter: in the present, this game against the patriots will go a long way in preserving whether the giants are real contenders this season. >> it's a great test, great opportunity i think. great chance for us to test what we got. >> right now i guess you could say when it comes to offenses, i'm looking forward to it. i'm looking forward to it. i love competition. >> reporter: the first order of business, getting to tom brady who seems to get better with age. >> he is a great quarterback. he'll be in the hall of fame. going to be a big challenge and we're up for a challenge. >> reporter: but the best defense against a team like the patriots could be a good

offense. the longer the giants have the ball on sunday, the less time tom brady has to cause damage. >> control the game clock a little bit so that will be hopefully we can manage that. that's going to come down to executing well and playing good football. >> reporter: with the giants, laura behnke, channel 7 eyewitness news. now the jets, they put willie colon on season ending injured. antonio cromartie officially listed as doubtful tomorrow. calvin pryor doubtful as well. 17 guys on the jet injury list. this week 10 match-up is a tough one against their old coach. a win is big for a whole lot of reasons. >> like everyone else around the league says, next man meant -- next man mentality. next man up. >> got to step up and play. knicks in charlotte. the knicks won in toronto last

missing this late in the game. carmelo anthony with the ball covered by defenders. he stepped out of bounds and passed to lance thomas. only 17.2 seconds left on the clock. the officials admitting later when they saw the video, could have given the ball to the raptors. yankee news. they trade catcher genreen murphy to the twins which would boost the stock of gary sanchez. they get hicks in return. hicks is an outfielder. former first round draft pick. chris young is a free agent. brett gardner, those questions are going to pop up again. yanks making moves early. midamerican football conference, toledo beats central michigan but it's the referee getting attention. he stopped the game with toledo driving for a touchdown. the central cheerleaders were behind the end zone getting their fans pumped up doing what cheerleaders do, until this.

the cheerleaders to interrupt the snap. reset the play clock to 25 seconds. >> so the cheerleaders and the band were being too loud. they just get louder after that. i've never heard of that before. >> where else do you get news about toledo football? [ laughter ] >> next they're going to ask the fans to quiet down. >> they will not do that. >> is this golf? >> coming up tonight on eyewitness news at 11:00, a half million-dollar car is missing. lamborghini stolen in new york city. lee likes the car. where is this car tonight? investigators say they have one idea. wait till you hear what it is. plus a skydiver stuck, dangling from a plane 10,000 feet in the air. we'll show you how this all ends up tonight at 11:00. that's it for us for now. thanks for watching. i'm bill ritter. >> and i'm liz cho.