makes them even more uncomfortable. >> we don't feel safe anymore in this area. >> reporter: flames tore through a home under construction on 67th drive in forest hills just before 11:30 last night. neighbors captured videos of the fire that illuminated the night sky from a distance. >> the flames were pouring up in the air. huge, huge flames. >> reporter: arson investigators made a discovery as they combed through the ashes on 67th drive. that's where they recovered a note with a riddle on it that appears to taunt investigators. fire marshalls have determined that four of the fires are connected and three of those are arson. they're still trying to determine if the fourth was deliberately set. those fires took place on november 8th on 112 street. november 17th on 66th avenue. and last night, november 25th, on 67th drive. >> we still haven't found the person responsible for this.

the fire department are actively looking into it. we hope -- we hope soon we will have more information. but we do not have a suspect whyet. >> i hope police them, who is doing this. >> reporter: investigators saying tonight that they do not have a suspect in this case. but they say there is a man they would like to talk to. there was surveillance video captured back during that november 17th fire. we're told around that time a man wearing all black and carrying a black backpack was seen in the area. investigators say they would like to speak with him and they would like people from this area to come forward with any information that they may be able to share with investigators. live in forest hills, mallory hoff, channel 7 eyewitness news. >> what a story unfolding there. now to thanksgiving. supposed to be a day of giving thanks. for some the main activity is shopping. like these folks on long island. yes, the merchandise folks will

be there next week. maybe cheaper. for some and for some reason, this isn't really shopping. it's a kind of challenge. a.j. ross is on the fast track to the cash register. she is at the toys r us in times square when the shopping began just two minutes ago. >> reporter: yeah. we have music and elves. it's like a party in here. for some, this is way more than retail therapy. this is serious business. they have been out here counting down. the doors just opened a few minutes ago. they have been warming up, some even stretching and now they're off to the races using some of these sales sheets you can see people being handed. using those as strategy to navigate through the holiday commotion. >> you have to stand in line if you want the bargains. >> reporter: while some families are still gathering around the thanksgiving table, others are wasting no time popular stores.

>> we come here every year for the past six years to shop. every time that we come, one kid, two kids, three kids now to get all of the good gifts for the kids. >> reporter: in the heart of times square, families from all over the world waited outside of this toys r us anticipating huge deals and savings on the eve of black friday. >> it depends who you're with and the company you're with. that's what counts. >> you have a strategy? you're already scoping out what you're going to get. a race to a certain section once you get in there. freestyling. >> parents say it's not so much about the prices as the the purchases. >> it is priceless. we will go home smiling. i'm enjoying it. >> reporter: now, i've met australia? from durham, north carolina. really all over the world. they are hoping to get some of

the best deals here. i was slipped a black card bill a little while ago. i can do damage myself. i will have more at 6:00. >> just be careful and don't get tramped a.j. we have a list of stores open tonight on our website, abc7ny.com. but if you're not a fan of spending the holiday at the store, there are retailers that agree with you. costco, t.j. maxx pledging to say closed this holiday. , for those bargain shoppers that cannot wait, no need to bundle up tonight. the mild weather is sticking around throughout the night. meteorologist jeff smith is in for lee goldberg. he is at the weather wall. >> a nice evening. check out the colors in the sky. ago. temperatures in the middle and upper 50s in the new york area. about 56 at central park. this after getting up to 60 degrees during the afternoon in the city.

even got into the middle 60s down the jersey shore. places like belmar and tom's river. right now, again, 56 in the park. you have temperatures around 57. falling a little more quickly into the middle 40s but still in the mid-50s down the show and the island. let's track your temperatures on the futurecast. very gradual. only down to 52 at midnight in cooler north and west. low 50s on the island. one thing to keep in mind. tomorrow morning, there will be low clouds and fog developing up and down the i-95 corridor. you will want to take it slow if you're traveling that late. as soon as that fog burns off during the day tomorrow, temperatures into the low 60s during midday. that's not all. it will get warmer tomorrow afternoon. we will detail that and your weekend forecast coming up later in the half hour. >> thank you, jeff. all this great weather

helping to make the iconic macy's day parade one of the best and biggest ever. >> how big? more than 3 million people showing up along the winding road from west 77th street to harold square on 34th. giant balloons and bands and security as well. >> kimberly richardson was there for us. >> reporter: that's one way to kick off a parade. >> happy thanksgiving. >> reporter: a turkey of a different sort strutted its stuff in new york city today. >> this is pretty awesome. during what is hands down. >> i love it. >> the world's best. >> 30 years old. i've been to 20 of them. >> reporter: thanksgiving day parade. >> are you having a ball? >> of course we are. >> how many times have you heard that one? >> about a thousand today. >> reporter: for the 89th year, people lined the streets of manhattan to get up close and personal with all of this. >> do you move to different spots every year.

>> i grew up on that spot. >> reporter: where many looked up to check out. >> okay. you're the new bird on the bock. >> that's us. >> how does it feel. >> it feels great. >> reporter: there were four new balloons. this dinosaur. >> and we've got burgers, we've got fries,. >> reporter: an updated version of ronald mcdonald. >> this is so much fun. happy thanksgiving, everybody. yeah. >> reporter: the 89th annual parade starting here in the upper west side and then weaves its way down to harold square. [music] >> reporter: marching bands, clowns, everything keeps everyone mesmerized for hours. this set of twins and three sisters, it's their first time here. >> what is the best part so far? >> all of this. >> all of it. good answer. >> reporter: good weather no doubt played a big role in

one of the largest crowds ever. that and an undeniable sense of resiliency during these trying times. >> we can't be fearful. we just have to trust that everything is going to be just fine and go on living. and that's the spirit of new yorkers. >> reporter: so to your family and -- wait. there's mine. >> happy. >> thanksgiving. >> everybody. >> reporter: kimberly richardson, channel 7 eyewitness news. >> and poignant moment in the parade. the nypd carrying a french flag along with the american, new york city and nypd flags all in solidarity after the attacks in paris two weeks ago. and as the nypd marched, thousands of their colleagues were on the job. 2500 of them wearing the antiterrorism label on their uniforms. others in plain clothes because

alert after the apparis attack -- after the paris attacks. >> what i have said repeatedly is terrorism can be prevail if people prefuse to be terrorized. it's the holiday season. let's be with our families and enjoy events like today. today is a beautiful day. >> 3 million people there agreed. it seems that the extra security precautions paid off. there were no security incidents reported. meanwhile a drone spotted on the upper west side spotted. a father and son were located and questioned by police. they issued a violation and returned the drone to them. a happy thanksgiving for those in need thanks to the kindness of others. more than 4200 thanksgiving meals delivered today to people with life-threatening illnesses around new york and new jersey. volunteers gat gathered earlier in soho to prepare and load the meals for gods love we deliver. and more than 7,000 meals

folks at the mission as they have done since 1879. i went to help out, along with my two oldest kids. a hearty breakfast for those that need touchdown and couldn't afford it. bridgity moyhan was also there. >> awesome. >> for the sacrifices of families of first responders, this is the 15th annual breakfast held by the firefighters children's foundation. it started after the 9/11 attacks and is a tradition for many families. rudy giuliani stopped by this morning. we are following a developing story now. the white house on lockdown with the first family inside after a man jumps the fence. we will show you the images coming in right now. plus, a blimp flying high over long island when it runs into trouble on the way back to the airport.

straight ahead at 5:00, we will tell you why it had to make an emergency landing on a school's baseball field. and more water woes in new jersey when another water main breaks. see what neighbors had to do to keep those thanksgiving dinners rolling along.

wait until you see how they it's the holidays. which means a house full of people -- who all want to get online. so it's the perfect time for verizon fios. it has the fastest internet and wifi available. with speeds from 50 to 500 megs. and right now, you'll get 50 meg fios internet, tv and phone for 79.99 a month online for your first year. and with a 2 year agreement, we'll give you all the premium movie channels for a year. plus, 400 dollars back. so go online or call now.

>> developing news to tell you about in the nation's capitol. the white house on lockdown because of a security breach. a man was arrested a short time ago for jumping over the white house fence. a man wrapped in an american flag holding an envelope. despite upgrades that was scale. the first family is celebrating white house. of all days to lose water. one of the busiest for cooking and entertaining, it has to be among the worst. that is exactly what happened to some people inian ford, new jersey where a water main broke just before dawn. interfere with their plans. tony yates has a story.

>> reporter: this cavern was created by the water main break. crews had to fix the broken line that was put in in the '30s. >> you know, we will probably have to replace a section of the pipe. >> reporter: early morning rounds were made to warn homeowners in the path of the water flow. >> we were called by police and said your water main broke. i thought it was my water main. then i came out and saw the field which when that fills up, we know there's trouble. >> reporter: two homes near the water main break were evacuated just in case there were problems with the gas line. overall this didn't seem to disrupt thanksgiving too much for some families. only two homes suffered basement flooding. here are a couple of neighbors other.

>> it's a garden hose. the one faucet to the other and it back feeds into the house. you have to make sure that you shut off the main otherwise it would be pouring the back to where it's leaking. today. >> it's just a neighbor needing help. we were here to help out. >> did they come knocking or did you come offering. >> they phoned me. >> they phoned me. >> they gave me a call. >> reporter: the three-house- hose hookup kept this along. by tonight. >> i have new information about the other water main break causes problems in new jersey. the boil water advisory lifted just in time for the thanksgiving holiday. crews in there working to replace a broken three-foot valve. working to replace it since sunday. no new leads tonight in the

who raped a jogger. police say the man -- the 26- year-old woman was on the path when the man jumped her. he dragged her to the amphitheater and raped her. he took off with her credit card and cell phone. a crash in the bronx sends the road. emergency crews used tools to cut through the roof of one trapped inside. the cars collided near pelham bay this morning. two people were taken to the hospital in critical condition. donald trump under fire tonight for appearing to mock a new york times reporter who has a disability that affects the movement of his joints. the reporter had written a story showing there was no proof that muslims in new the attacks. >> i don't know what i said. i don't remember. he's going i don't remember.

>> "new york times" call the imitation of the reporter outrageous. he was one of the reporters of a "washington post" story back in 2001 that cops had questioned some muslims about reports they were cheering the attacks. there was no evidence of that. story. and trump used the original story to claim that muslims here were indeed cheering. trump says he didn't know that the reporter had a disability and wasn't mocking him and says he wants the new york times to apologize to him. oh, boy. let's talk about the accuweather forecast. shall we? >> a lot to be thankful for today. >> you know it. >> and the weather was one of those things. >> couldn't ask for anything better. >> 60 degrees. you can't do better than that. >> happy thanksgiving. >> happy thanksgiving. >> back in 1989 on thanksgiving, we had four and a half inches of snow in new york sity and upwards of half a foot on parts of long island. a lot can happen on thanksgiving.

to 60 degrees. the empire state building in the beautiful fall colors. for the date. 67 was the record. we didn't get up to that level. that was set back in 1946. and the sun going down at 4:31. here is what to expect. there will be areas of fog tomorrow morning. be careful out there. there might be reduced visibilities for a while. tomorrow you wake up. clouds. then the sun breaks out. that will actually spike high 60s. so in general, three to five degrees warmer than what we had during the day today if you can believe it. then cooler and cloudier as we head into the weekend with the cold front approaching from the north and west. 53 at suffolk.

this is court eof high pressure. the ridge from the high extending all the way down the eastern sea board, protecting us from cloud cover. there were low clouds earlier today. especially north and east of the city that rolled in off of the atlantic ocean. one area of the country not so lucky on this thanksgiving, the central portion of the lower 48 states here. there was snow in denver earlier. now a significant ice storm developing over parts of the texas and oklahoma panhandles, extending through kansas and central nebraska. there will be travel delays in those areas. a mild mix of sun and clouds for tomorrow. again, you get off to a cloudy, foggy start. then the fog burns off by late morning. we get up to 64 degrees by mid to late afternoon. here comes that cold front. kind of just limping off to the south here. doesn't have much moisture to work with. because of that, there might be a stray shower during the day saturday. but a cooler day. the high only getting up to 54. with the front hanging around

to our south on sunday, sunshine will be in limited supply. partly to mostly cloudy. we're down to about 50 for a low temperature. patchy morning fog tomorrow. otherwise that breaks for sunshine. 64 for the high. mostly cloudy. mild. tomorrow night we're down to 49. this front moves off to the south but it will have something to say about the second half of the weekend forecast. >> thank you. more protests expected tonight in chicago. coming up at 5:00, another video has emerged from the deadly police shooting. many are calling for the cop's boss to step down. a patriots fan scammed out of hundreds of dollars trying to take his son to a game. how he and his cousin's detective work led to an arrest in the bronx.

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>> we know the holiday shopping season has begun. and tonight some top retailers are getting called out for their practices and policies. eyewitness news anchor lori stokes breaks down which companies ended up on the naughty and lisa mateo of consumer reports.

>> reporter: hold on before you do any more holiday shopping. consumer reports naughty and nice list is out and they have checked it way nor than twice. who is on the naughty list? costco is for selling tiffany engagement ring that's were not sold by tiffany. >> costco argued that tiffany is a generic description for a type of ring setting. >> reporter: a judge disagreed and costco is appealing. tom's of maine made the naughty list after accused of using chemicals in their, quote/unquote, natural products. >> tom's didn't admit wrong doing but they created a four and a half million dollars fund to settle claims. >> reporter: ups is on the naughty lisa long with fedex for continuing to charge extra fees they call fuel surcharges despite the low fuel prices this fall. the nice list includes jet blue

the sky, meaning travelers can be online without paying extra. southwest airlines makes the nice list for providing the most frequent flyer reward trips of any big airline. kudos to dish network on the nice list for developing a tracking system for their technicians so customers know exactly when the technician will show up. and target gets a round of applause for its liberal price match policy and generous return and shipping policies which means life can be joyous even after the holidays are over. lori stokes, channel 7 eyewitness news. >> another on consumer reports nice list, doc martens. as long as you live, the company promises to make free repairs to the lining and even the sole. thankfully since they're back in style, it's perfect to hear about that.

>> when the else flows. >> go. >> still ahead, an unexpected landing. a blimp running into trouble on the way to an airport in long island. new and exclusive video just before it went down. also the kidney donation swap that spanned two states and two families. you will meet the man from our area who was part of it and received the gift of life. and yes, we love halloween. we love thanksgiving as well. we love seeing your

take a look how our viewers it's the holidays. which means a house full of people -- who all want to get online. so it's the perfect time for verizon fios. it has the fastest internet and wifi available. with speeds from 50 to 500 megs. and right now, you'll get 50 meg fios internet, tv and phone for 79.99 a month online for your first year. and with a 2 year agreement, we'll give you all the premium movie channels for a year. plus, 400 dollars back. so go online or call now.

>> some high drama in the skies over long island today. a blimp blown off course and about to run out of fuel making an emergency landing.

the people on board were not. the blimp advertising. >> it was smart piloting that brought the blimp down behind a school in farmingdale. >> there's a blimp no more than 75 feet in the air. >> reporter: blown off course and running low on fuel, the 150-foot blimp flies lower and lower. not much higher than the trees and the power lines and the homes. the video obtained exclusively tonight by eyewitness news and shot by local attorney dave smith. >> he was drifting. he came down close to houses at one point. managed to asend and move a block southeast toward the empty school yard. >> reporter: the pilot attempts to land in a field there. then attempts a second landing in a second field minutes later

in south farmingdale where the blimp safely touches down and is quickly deflated. the blimp known as a thermal airship uses hot air to stay aloft and a propeller to steer it and move forward. the propeller is no match for winds over 15 miles per hour. when the winds shifted and increased today, the pilot said he was unable to return to republic airport. but he says he never lost control of the airship. >> made an approach over the trees, came down and touched. they were able to grab the crowd lines and hold me in place and we went through the normal deflation procedure. >> at no point was he thrust down into the trees. it was coming in for the landing and feeling the winds, making sure it was a good scenario. >> reporter: the blimp was contracted by a school known as the manhattan institute to fly over traffic to and from the macy's parade. the ship was returning to refuel when it was forced to land.

although the blimp's owners insisted that residents were never in any danger, witnesses told us that the airship seemed alarmingly low. >> it looked low and intense. >> although he was trying to control it, he was not entirely in control. >> reporter: the f.a.a. is classifying this not as a emergency landing but precautionary landing so it is not being investigated. from farmingdale, long island, eyewitness news. >> a pregnant woman under arrest for allegedly crashing her suv while on drugs. the 26-year-old lost control of the cadillac escalade last night in kings park. the cadillac flipped over on north port road. me and her passenger were treated for minor injuries. police say she is more than six months pregnant. a different kind of black friday planned tomorrow for chicago and its famed

corridor. protesters calling attention to the deadly police shooting of a man with a knife all caught on video. here is brandy hitt. >> reporter: new images from inside van dyke's squad car from a pursuit last year. moments later the officer gets out and mcdonald is shot 16 times in 15 seconds. but we will not show you the entire video that has reignited protests across chicago. protesters are vowing to disrupt holiday shopping. angry why that video wasn't made public for an entire year. >> any responsible police superintendent would have shown the video to the man immediately. death.

complaints against him since he joined the force in 2001, including excessive force and racial slurs. but van dyke was not disciplined. van dyke's defense argues he feared for his life in this case. >> this is not a murder case. >> with more demonstrations expected, president obama is weighing in on facebook writing i was deeply disturbed by the footage and i'm grateful to people of my hometown for keeping protests peaceful. >> reporter: many are critical of the state's attorney who took a year before charging van dyke. legal experts say these are dill cases to win because with you have to prove that the officer intended serious bodily harm. in los angeles, brandy hitt, channel 7 eyewitness news. life getting back to normal today in belgium. the terror threat was lowered for the first time following the paris terror attacks. the prime minister says there is no longer a threat of an imminent attack.

highest level, meaning a threat is possible and likely. french president hollande and russian president putin agreed to strengthen their military cooperation. russia is ready to cooperate with groups fighting isis. holland wants him out and putin says he is an ally in the identifies against isis. putin accused of refusing to discuss the downing of a russian plane, refusing to discuss it with turkey. the russian leader has not taken his phone calls since the incident happened on tuesday. claiming to be warnings to the pilot of the russian bomber that the plane had indeed entered turkish air space. there have economic sanctions

pope francis warning of catastrophic results if derailed by special interests. the pope said negotiations in paris next week will be crucial to cutting fossil fuel emissions. there are climate deniers being blamed for manipulation to suit their agendas. a man from the bronx busted for selling fake game tickets to a patriots fan. see how that fan did his own detective work to democrat down the scammer. a discovery out of this world. what some think this photo from the mars rover shows on that planet. and after highs hit 60 degrees on this thanksgiving, i'll give you a black friday deal. even warmer temperatures for

i'm je it's the holidays. and of course, everyone wants to get online at once. to watch things. buy things. but slow internet makes it hard. that's why it's time to get fios. it has the fastest internet and wifi available. with speeds from 50 to 500 megs. and right now, you'll get 50 meg fios internet, tv and phone for 79.99 a month online for your first year. and with a 2 year agreement,

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>> no traveler ever wants to see this.

baggage handlers taking part in a luggage tossing contest. they are with alaskan airlines this california. the carrier says the bags were filled with magazines and did not long bee to a passenger. they say the optics of the video are unfortunate. >> oh, yeah. a man from the bronx arrested for selling fake football tickets on craigslist. the patriots fan who bought the tickets teamed up with police to help bust the ticket seller and so that new york-boston rivalry resurfaces. our sister station has the story. >> reporter: it started as a feel-good father-son outing to the pats redskins game. >> the reason took my son he got honor roll. and my son has cerebral palsy. it's hard to get good grades like this that.

>> reporter: but when sean used the tickets, disaster. >> they said listen this ticket here, something is wrong with it. right then and there i knew the ticket was fake. >> reporter: he spent another $700 in the parking lot to save the night. but when he got home he and his cousin went on the offensive. it took five days to democrat down the scammer who sold him the bogus tickets. when they found him and made a date to buy more tickets, he got the boston police involved. >> they had a squad car ready in 30 minutes. they took my phone, called the kid. met him at the station. >> reporter: boss tin police arrested 21-year-old washington of the bronx they had been looked for the alleged scam artist for some time. >> we're fans. we're pretty much like a brotherhood. i didn't want to see anyone else get taken advantage of. >> reporter: the fact that the crook is from new york, even better. >> i hope he's a yankees fan. it made it more sweeter. >> wow. wow. >> ouch. >> okay then.

well, you really couldn't ask for better weather on this thanksgiving day. >> yes. but how long will the holiday warm-up last? >> your accuweather forecast coming up next. plus -- [music] >> it's all in the family. the happen infamily, all of them with of course the

th >> new york city's pizza may have a challenger. astronomer. he was looking at images taken by the nasa curiosity rover on eye. whiten handed the picture on his youtube page noting the object looks like a large mouse or some kind of rodent.

but white admits the object is probably an optical illusion. >> yeah. astronomer. >> happy halloween. >> the crew of the international space station celebrated an out of this world thanksgiving. nasa posted a video demonstrating how to prepare thanksgiving meal in space. many of the traditional favorites like turkey, stuffing and candied yams are reheated by a water machine. they are thankful for the feast. here is what the first family is eating. on the menu, time roasted turkey, honey baked ham, creamed horseradish, cornbread stuffing and oyster stuffing. mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and kale cesar salad. that's michelle obama for you. and for dessert, six different kinds of pies. take your pick. the president spent part of his

day working, making phone calls to u.s. troops stationed around the world thanking them for their service. looking casual. quite a feast. >> you would have to wheel me out if i ate that much. >> you do not to eat that much. >> he will make room. >> you work wonders. >> we do work wonders in the weather department. we're talking temperatures even warmer than what we had today as we head into your black friday. for the shoppers, mid 60s for high temperatures. mid town manhattan, you see the empire state building lit up in the nice thanksgiving colors. the wind coming in from the south at 5 miles per hour. even as we head deep into the evening, temperatures will barely fall down to the 50 degree mark here in new york city after getting up to 60 in the afternoon. 63 and 64 down the jersey shore. here is the planning for you shoppers tonight. 54 at 7:00 p.m. i think there will be fog

into the early hours of tomorrow morning. if you're out traveling late tonight, there will be, reduced visibility in some locations. as soon as we break into sunshine tomorrow, we're back up to 60 by noon. then even higher than that as we head into the afternoon. temperatures in the lower to farmingdale. down to 45 at monticello. lower 50s down the shore. here is futurecast. quiet during the evening and fog and low clouds developing tomorrow morning. when you wake up tomorrow, around daybreak, it won't look that nice outside. but trust me the fog will break up, the clouds will break off and that warms things up into the afternoon. late tomorrow night into early saturday morning, a front approaches from the north and west. a moisture starved front. not impressive on the radars. there might be a stray shower north and west of the city into saturday morning.

we're just kind of left with cloud cover during the day saturday and also into sunday as well with that front just off to our south. but not much in the way of rainfall. lows down to 50 in the park. you get down to the upper 30s. highs during the day tomorrow 64 in the city. low 60s on the island. and then we have the cooldown over the weekend. by cooldown, seasonable temperatures. 10 to 15 degrees colder than the last couple of days. showers lingering on sunday. close enough to give us cloud cover even into the second half of the weekend. here is your accuweather forecast for tonight. areas of fog developing late. some of that tomorrow morning. and then that breaks for sunshine. afternoon. maybe a stray shower on 54. sunday. 48. south.

north. sun and clouds on monday. tuesday. 52 before we clear things off and cool things off the middle part of next week. >> thanks, jeff. tradition. a thrill to interview the musical act head lining the winter eve's celebration. this is our 16th annual. our stars this year, the chappen family. harry wrote taxi and cats in the cradle and he carries on through the music of his remarkable family. [music] >> the family that sings together stays together. [music] >> that's clearly the harmonious mantra of this clan. it is indeed a family affair led by brother steve and tom who help keep alive the memory of the missing brother from

and the cat is in the cradle and the silver spoon the most famous brother, harry. he was killed 34 years ago in an accident. he was just 38. but he lives through his family's music. >> and the cat is in the cradle and the silver spoon. little boy blue and the man and the moon >> it's not just his songs that live on. >> 40th anniversary this year of putting hungry people in touch with food and helping towards self reliance. and you think about that on thanksgiving and christmas when people are eating and yet there's a quarter of our children growing up hungry. listen to his visions >> reporter: which brings us back to this family's sing- along. carrying on a tradition because there was a time that families did sing together. that was their entertainment.

[music] than that. it is the power of music that unison. >> a great song is an idea with an emotion somewhere over the rainbow. those great songs. it really works that way. there's something medicinal about singing together. [music] >> something about singing together. you're with your family and friends today. take a moment and sing. after the news is over. by the way, hear the family sing either here on channel 7 or in person this monday november 30th the winter eve's celebration for our tree lighting at 5:30 here on eyewitness news. >> what a family. what a legacy. >> still ahead, the gift of life that spanned two states.

you will meet the families. one of them with ties to our area involved in a four-person kidney swap.

rsonas. >> two families tonight have a lot to be thankful for on this thanksgiving. a member of each family receiving a new kidney and a member of each family donating a kidney in an organ donation swap like no other. stacy seiger has the story how it all played out. unbelievable gift. >> reporter: and for the first time, keith o'brien and his family here at the medical center are watching this story and seeing who gave them that gift here in texas. it was a new kidney from 35- year-old amanda desoto of san antonio. amanda not a perfect match for her 57-year-old father and eric's brother here in new york

thanks to a national program from the united network for organ sharing, both families really get what they give. >> i wish them well. maybe some day i will get a chance to meet them or whatever, talk to them or something and just tell them how much we appreciate it. >> congratulations. you made it. >> reporter: it has been a long road for keith of ham tan bays. he is now 28. at age 7, he had strep throat and it led to kidney failure. his mother first donated a kidney that eventually failed. and then -- >> from second grade to his senior year in high school, we did dialysis at home. >> reporter: then another transplant from a deceased donor lasted 11 years. keith's younger brother eric had hoped to give him his kidney. now he feels twice as good about it. >> it's great knowing that i helped somebody else live longer. and so i was able to help my brother. >> reporter: right now there's about 100,000 people in our

country waiting for kidney donors. 10% of them right here in new york state. and because of that high number, the wait right now for a deceased donor is 5 to 7 years. of scores its wasn't easy flying two kidneys in opposite directions on the busiest travel day of the year. >> we weren't going to miss that. >> it was an amazing interception there. i was like stop. that's my son's kidney. >> my brother means the world to me. it's the only thing that matters is he's okay. >> reporter: and for two families, a thanksgiving to remember. >> you guys are heros. >> reporter: in the bronx, i'm stacy seiger, channel 7 eyewitness news. >> that's what makes this the season of giving. we are live in times square for the mad dash for deals. eyewitness news at 6:00 starts

this is new york's number one news. channel 7 eyewitness news with bill ritter and liz choi, rob powers with sports. and lee goldberg with the exclusive accuweather forecast. now eyewitness news at 6:00. >> one of the largest crowds ever to watch the macy's thanksgiving parade. at least 3 million people. and the nypd security the most intense ever. the only issue, an unexpected drone. an arsonist on the loose in queens. the latest fire last night. and this time he left a clue. happy thanksgiving. i'm liz choi. >> and i'm bill ritter. investigators connecting the dots to a series of resent fires in queens. a note from the arsonist that taunts the have egg tores to find him before he strikes again. >> three fires in forest hills ruled arson.