i'm bill ritter. the latest political scandal in new york and it's the biggest. sheldon silver expelled from the assembly and facing years in federal prison. >> the jury this afternoon convicted silver of trading favors to illegally earn up to $5 million and lying about it. >> ago sheldon silver, the former speaker of the assembly exited federal court here. he said he's extremely disappointed by the verdict. his lawyers said he will be appealing this to go for a second try. this was horrible news for him this afternoon. he exited the courtroom a couple minutes ago. we hope to bring you a little bit of sound about him talking about his disappointment just a few minutes ago. the u.s. attorney for this district, he's targeted public corruption in albany these last few years but this is by far his biggest win

yet. at about 3:45 this afternoon, a jury of eight women and four men returned their charges. charges included fraud. the basic gist of the scheme was he earmarked $500,000 in state money for cancer university. that doctor then in turn referred cancer patients to a law firm affiliated with sheldon silver. he got about $3 million in the scheme. there was another scheme alleged in this complaint and he was convicted of about a million dollars gained by sheldon silver in that. he's 71 years old. he went to the assembly first in 1976. he was elevated to speakership in 1994. he was indicted of january this year. he resigned his speakership in february but stayed on as an assembly member representing the lower east side. as soon as he was convicted this afternoon he

was forced to give up his position. again, guilty on all seven charges. we heard from him a couple minutes ago saying he is extremely disappointed in today's verdict. we'll bring you more later on. reporting in lower manhattan, dave evans, channel 7 eyewitness news. >> what a story. now to the fire rescue on long island. when you look at the video of that burning house, it's amazing nobody was killed. the homeowner was sleeping inside survived thanks to a brave neighbor and another good samaritan helping him get out of a window. it happened in the suffolk county hamlet of north babylon. kristin thorne is there for us tonight. >> really just a team effort here. at one point they all decided they were trying to use a garden hose to try to put out the fire and they realized that wasnt going other be enough. >> you could see the flames coming out like that.

away, chris cocuzza, a former voluntary firefighter ran toward the flames. they tore through his neighbor's house on sunrise highway in north babylon early yesterday morning. his neighbor, dominick gennaro, was fast asleep. joseph was driving home he and cocuzza teamed up. >> i said get me a ladder. i think he's in his bedroom right now. we run upstairs and i start pounding on the window, dominick, get up. your house is on fire. >> i put him on my shoulders. >> reporter: he carried gennaro to an ambulance which had just arrived. gennaro has cerebral palsy and suffers from seizures. >> being under the medication, i guess i didn't hear. i have two smoke alarms and they were working. >> reporter: you never know how you're going to react in a didn't think twice. >> i guess when the moment comes you'll either know who you

are or who you're not. >> i'm just happy we saved a life. that's all that matters. i was in the right place at the right time. >> i'm so grateful to him for my life. really. >> gennaro is now staying with family. the cause of the fire is unclear. live in north babylon, kristin thorne, channel 7 eyewitness news. another fire to tell you about. this one in the bronx with dozens of residents out of their homes tonight after a building. the fire started near the top particular of the it happened in the morris heights section. 11 apartments in all were before the fire people were on the roof working. the cause of the fire has not been determined. film director spike lee and reverend al sharpton tonight part of a major new national they say the murder of a 9-year-old in chicago is an example of how gun violence has reached epidemic levels in this country. eyewitness news reporter tim

fleischer is in harlem tonight with much more. >> this gun violence initiative connects on several different levels, everything from proposed legislation to pop culture and sadly the anguished plea of a bronx mother. >> i've got to live the rest of my life without my son. >> reporter: at just four years old, lloyd morgan is an example of senseless gun violence. his mothers and others want to stop. >> not just a problem here in new york. it's a problem thought this nation. >> reporter: his new initiative also brought out filmmaker spike lee. >> stop the murder madness. the situation is out of control. >> reporter: his new movie is about gang violence in chicago. >> satire will be the best way for us to tell this very serious story. >> reporter: joining this very serious issue, lawmakers, civic activists, and community leaders want to raise greater awareness

of gun violence and confront its deadly nature on many fronts. >> it is absolutely unacceptable that we are shooting our children illegal guns. and then the next day we act like nothing ever happened. >> reporter: but filmmaker spike lee pointed out you can't be vocal after laquan mcdonald who was shot 16 times by a police officer in this video and killed. >> led in to an alley and executed. situation. >> reporter: after the new york premier of lee's movie, there will be a march in support of awareness. >> why are we not doing more? our children are being murdered. >> spike lee said he would normally hold a party after his premier but tomorrow he says he will join others and march reporting live in harlem, tim fleischer, channel 7 eyewitness news.

candidate donald trump today calling his meeting with black pastors, his words, amazing. even though he's not getting any wide ranging endorsement from this group. the meeting at trump tower lasted a couple hours today. it was proceeded by controversy if some of the pastors attending said they were blindsided when he was saying it was an endorsement. >> we came up with lots of good ideas and lots of future ideas but i thought it was an amazing meeting. >> he's probably the most least racist person there is, but again, he's got to tone down certain languages that can easily be interpreted as racial slurs. >> some african american religious leaders have accused trump of using racially insensitive and incendiary rhetoric. one of trump's rivals, new jersey governor christie flat out refuting trump's claim that

he saw muslims celebrating in jersey city. >> if it had happened i'm pretty sure i'd remember it. if you'd like me to say it another didn't happen. the fact is people can say anything. but the facts are the fact and that did not happen in new jersey that day and hasn't happened since. >> christie making the comments in new hampshire after receiving developers. two simple words tonight from the man accused in the deadly shooting at a planned parenthood clinic in colorado. no question. wearing a suicide prevention vest, making sure he police say dear went on a rampage about planned parenthood before the shooting that killed three people and injured nine others.

lower. >> as we continue, an unwanted surprise for lirr passengers. some are about to face new parking bills. >> a group that represents businesses says it's spending so much money dealing with the homeless, it can't afford a tree lighting ceremony this year. we'll take you there. >> we have ideal weather for winter's eve on the upper west side. our neighborhood holiday celebrations looking good. temperature around 44 degrees, up one in the last hour and hoping the rain stays away. have the rain out to our south and west.

as we told you at the top of the newscast, assembly

today on all seven counts in his corruption trial. as he left the federal courthouse a few minutes ago, he spoke briefly to reporters. let's take a listen. >> just disappointed right now and ultimately i believe after we file the legal challenges we'll have a different result. >> after his conviction, sheldon silver was automatically expelled from the new york assembly. we'll have much more reaction tonight at 11:00. new at 6:00, that loud squeal of protests you hear tonight from long island coming from some lirr passengers who will soon pay for something they've gotten free all these years. parking spots at the train station in the suffolk county hamlet of bay shore. the fees will begin on january 4th. happy new year. here's n.j. burkett. >> can't fight city hall, right? >> reporter: city residents got their first clue when the parking spaces suddenly had numbers. parking has all always been free in bay shore, even as a monthly ticket on the lirr topped $375.

but town officials blame residents and tourists from fire island who routinely station. >> park at the train station and walk down the block and hop on a ferry and go to fire island and be there for two weeks at a time. >> the train station is for people using the train tracks. >> reporter: what's more, officials say the lot needs a series of expensive improvement like security cameras but at the 106th lirr parking lot, 70% are free or have spaces that are free. that includes all of the lots. just 30% of the railroad's lots require monthly permits or daily fee which includes most of the lots on the port washington, long beach, and west hempstead branches. bay shore's lot will join those with 325 spots marked here in red and

reserved for residents for $90 a year. many say their commute is already expensive enough. >> it's a money grab obviously. just to ex tract money from the commuters. >> the parking fees are slated to take effect on january 4th. the public hearing is scheduled for 7:00 tonight. in bay shore, long island, n.j. burkett, channel 7 eyewitness news. an annual christmas tradition in the bronx has been called off. the reason, a spike in panhandlers along arthur avenue. the business improvement district says funds that would have normally been used for this weekend's tree lighting on chicerone park is being used for increased security. >> you can't walk down the street without someone coming over to you and asking for money. >> it comes down to three homeless individuals along the arthur avenue strip that have been a problem. and they're known to the police. they're

homeless services and are being addressed in a very forthright manner. >> some local businesses say all they would have had to do is chip in and they would have happily funded the tree lighting themselves. lee goldberg is going to make it tough for us. i'm in the holiday spirit. lee times out the rain that's heading our way as we say farewell to

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we're setting our investigative reporter to find out whether sade plugged it in herself. they finally lit lincoln square 16th annual winter's eve tree lighting ceremony. finally all lit up. sade was there leading the ceremony. thousands of people on hand listening to the chapin

family sing and the tree is finally lit up. i bet you sade actually found the plug, plugged it in herself. >> you count down from 10, to get to 1. [ laughter ] >> live television. >> it's actually one of the biggest and illuminating the tree is beautiful. >> it's a nice night out there. >> we're kicking off a great night. outside it's getting crowded. great shopping, great food, music. nice night to be in the neighborhood. let's check out what is another shot of the tree downtown. all the performances and really a big crowd right now with temperatures in the mid 40s and nicer than many years past where we've had rain and a lot of chill or maybe it's even been too mild but it feels perfect as we usher in the holiday season. want to come up and spend a nice time near our eyewitness news studios? come to the upper west side. 44 degrees, humidity at 68%. wind has actually backed off to 6 miles per hour. temperature bumped up 1 degree and pressure is on the fall. high short of 50 degrees which

is right on target. good enough to help us achieve the warmest november on record, actually tied at 52.7 degrees. there's your sunrise and sunset times for today. weather headlines look like this. light rains going to be arriving later tonight. already starting to see light sprinkles over central and southern new jersey. it's mild but wet. have your umbrella and rain coat. that's tomorrow and a good part of wednesday too. clearing a bit later in the week. that wind is cranking on thursday. 50 degrees in to the upcoming weekend. chilly in comack. northern suburbs clouds increasing. upper 20s in monticello right now. luckily the temperatures will warm overnight. we'll get in to the mid 30s by the time the rainfall arrives in the northern suburbs. couple slick spots in a few places later on tonight. 48 in belmar right now. dry at 7:00, few sprinkles or drizzle especially from the city on south and west at midnight and light rain for your morning commute. occasionally moderate throughout the day tomorrow.

raw. around 50 degrees but doesn't feel that warm and it's damp. there are the sprinkles that have fallen apart. recently a couple showers that have come out of eastern pennsylvania. steady rain off to the south comes in here later midnight and a little after that. there's the steady band of rainfall. i've got one low that brings a light rain tomorrow. probably a distinct break tomorrow night with the rains lighter. then we get heavier rain wednesday especially from late morning in to the early evening. i'm sure you've seen pictures of all the snow and severe weather in to the middle of the country. the core of this storm is headed to our north and west. we get by the time we get to wednesday, an there's futurecast showing the rainfall. starting to see rainfall on staten island. over spreads the area by dawn. mostly light rain, occasionally moderate. the heaviest rain will be slated for late morning. better thursday. mostly cloudy, late. 32.

feels chilly. have all your rain gear. the rain becomes more intermittent before we get the heaviest rain on wednesday. 57 for your high. cooling back to 50 but the sun comes back then it's quiet of december. couple rainy days then things quiet again. laura behnke in for rob powers up next with sports. >> yesterday's games are barely in the rearview mirror. already it's time to focus on the jets versus giants. sunday it will be new york against new york at the metlife stadium. partners face off. only one comes in on a high note. plus could greg

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quality of over 3.500 hospitals. fewer than 6% received 5 stars. among them was cancer treatment centers of america in philadelphia.

i thought it was really insightful, your prediction that one new york team will win. >> someone from new york is taking a victory. when the jets and giants clash this weekend, much more will be on the line. sunday's game will help determine who's playoff band. for big blue the urgency should be even higher after yesterday's disappointing display in washington. new york fell in to a 20-0 hole early and was never able to rebound despite another amazing outing from odell beckham, jr. who laid out here for a touchdown in the 4th quarter. that cut the lead to 6. the giants would not get any closer than that falling 20-14. they move in to a tie with washington for first. big blue has lau every division road game they've played this season. sunday against the jets it's a whole new opportunity. >> we've got this week coming up. it's going to come down to how we handle it. we've got to win some football games.

>> it was a much happier sunday for them. gang green hosting the dolphins. ryan fitzpatrick and brandon marshall got things started. then it was devon smith's turn. first touchdown of his nfl career. fitzpatrick finished with four td tosses. raced out to a 21-0 start and really never looked back. the jets improve to 6-5. good enough for second place in the afc east. they're in line for the wildcard playoff spot. the motivation should be there especially sunday against their metlife stadium roommates. >> we're playing meaningful games right now. we've just got to continue each week to put everything we have in to it and win these games. yesterday rutgers cleaned out firing coach flood and athletic director julie hermann. patrick hobbes was named the new athletic director yesterday. he'll oversee search for the next head coach. according to reports, the scarlet knights could be interested in a reunion with former coach greg schiano.

hobbes said no offers have been made yet. >> the process has just started so i can't put a timeline on it. what i can say is i'm going to work as expeditiously as i can to have a coach in place as quickly as i can. >> after this season, the 20th of his decorated career, kobe bryant will call it quits. an announcement he made last night. then he took the court as the lakers hosted the pacers. bryant hit a clutch 3-pointer. in a 1-point game. he had a chance to tie it with 6 seconds left, his 3-point attempt was an air ball. the lakers lost and kobe reflected. >> have to accept the fact that i don't want to do this anymore. i'm okay with it. the rangers will have to snap their current losing skid without the help of derek stepan. he's out four to six weeks with broken ribs suffered the blue shirts go on without him. ahead of tonight's match-up with the hurricane, the rangers have

lost three in a row but they're not worried. >> the confidence is there. i think we got to get back to the game plan, making it a process, not just relying on our talent. >> chris young won't be returning to new york next season. the former met and yankee has agreed to terms on a multi-year contract with the red sox. we now know how much the mets and royals players made just for playing in the fall classic. each mets player earning $300,000. that's a record for the runner-up. kansas city, they're getting $370,000 each. not bad. coming up tonight on eyewitness news at 11:00, all new, the hawk in trouble and new york firefighters coming to the rescue. we have this incredible video. and new york city a walking city we know. the new map that shows you how many calories you can burn by taking the sidewalk instead of the subway. that's coming up at 11:00. i like that app. >> like that idea. >> i'm going to get you one for the holidays. it's free and it's new.