goldberg with his updated forecast on the track of the storm. >> a storm that got on our radar last weekend is just under 36 hours from producing its first snowflakes in the area. right now we have clear to partly cloudy skies. no problems. 31 degrees. we have had a gusty chilly breeze today. we told you bundle up versus yesterday. 25 for that feels-like reading but we're quiet till the storm arrives late tomorrow night in to saturday morning. a blizzard watch is up for long island, new york city, and parts of new jersey as well. you hear that and you're thinking we're going to get buried. that's not the case. a blizzard watch indicates the blizzard conditions with strong winds, low visibilities and a period of heavy snow can exist. that doesn't translate to amounts. to the west, lower snowfall amounts but still 6 inch potential to the north and west. coastal flooding a huge concern. we'll give you those tides where there could be a storm surge equivalent of a tropical storm

clouds right now, about 1100 miles away. this tornado watch with this right now. icing breaking out on the northern side of the storm. strong storm and well forecast by our computer models so far but now we're seeing a trend today where the storm track is shifting a little farther north and east. lower impact in our northern suburbs. we're very close to some of the hev just snow bands to our south and west. going to have big winds and coastal flooding. toward dawn on saturday. i think it's going to leave saturday night, probably wee hours of the morning sunday. the brunt from saturday midday to the evening hours. the hardest hit, central and southern new jersey. that thinking has not changed. around a 6-inch storm for new york city. a foot still not off the table for the city but definitely more south and west. we'll have the snowfall total coming up in accuweather in a few minutes. now to reporters outside as

what's to come. we'll start in new jersey where lee said they'll be the hardest hit. those inland in new jersey will also feel it. darla miles in fairfield with that part of our coverage. >> since weaver -- since we've had a mild winter so far, people are ahead of the game and getting their generators and snow blowers maintained. they've been in and out of this repair shop all day long. >> tell me to get out there and get the snowblower going and get some shovels and clean the gutters. >> that's what your wife said when she heard about the snowstorm? >> yes. >> reporter: the honey do list happens to be the winter storm prep list. >> i picked up three chains for the storm just in case any trees fall down. >> reporter: aside from the three new chains for his chain saw, he's fired up his snowblower, pulled the shovels

plenty of bottled water in his garage. his fridge is stocked too. >> went grocery shopping. might be stuck you never know . >> got macaroni. >> make sure you've got blankets, that extra sweater in case the temperatures drop or you lose power and are without heat. >> reporter: the red cross has laid out this spread to remind homeowners of the essentials to keep inside of their homes like batteries, a weather radio, a flashlight or glow stick, but never candles. and to keep pipes from freezing, open cabinet doors and let faucets. in passaic county, public works has already started treating the roads with its stockpile of 3200 gallons of brine. >> we're trying to go around through the whole county and

can before the storm. >> if you don't remember exactly how the brine solution works, it turns in to liquid salt once the first inch of snowfall hits the roads and that allows plows to catch up and get ahead of the storm or keep up with the snowfall as it's coming down. reporting live in fairfield, darla miles, channel 7 eyewitness news. along the shore in new jersey, salt trucks are now filled and snow plows are hitched in anticipation of the coming storm. voluntary evacuations are underway in coastal towns where major flooding is expected. officials are warning residents who stay behind that they may be without power or not be able to leave until the floodwaters are received. governor christie isn't rushing home to the garden state. he says he's going to remain on the presidential campaign trail. >> lieutenant governor is there. she's handling things on the ground there. if i needed

>> christie and the lieutenant governor will be on a pre-storm conference call later tonight. there are concerns about flooding and beach erosion on long island. some areas are still recovering from the damage of superstorm sandy more than three years ago and are bracing for high winds and possible flooding this weekend. long island reporter kristin thorne is in lindenhurst and she continues our coverage. >> the rule of thumb for this storm, officials here on long island are saying if you live in an area that usually floods, you should expect flooding with this storm. it most likely will happen. of course all areas across long island are getting ready. >> we have 400 vehicles prepped and ready to go. >> reporter: that's a lot to keep an eye on especially with blizzard-like conditions expected. >> we've been preparing all week but obviously once it begins to snow, we'll be all in. >> reporter: beginning tomorrow

long island brining the roads. >> we'll be brining our county roadways, bridges, and our overpasses to prevent that black ice from forming. >> we've been preparing for the storm since the beginning of the week. our salt barns and sand barns are full to capacity. >> reporter: now local officials just need your help. >> be sensible. stay home on saturday unless you absolutely have to travel somewhere. >> reporter: while the snow totals remain unclear, it's almost certain there will be flooding in low lying areas on both the north shore and south shore. the tide is expected to be 1 to 3 feet higher than normal >> you cannot really fight the incoming tide with the full moon. so those waters are going to come. they're going to create a flooding condition. they're going to create road closures and other rescues. our police department, volunteer firefighters will be out there. >> the other thing officials

about is if you have your car parked on the street, really try to get those cars in to your driveways or somewhere else because it makes it so much easier for the plows to come through. kristin thorne, channel 7 eyewitness news. 6 inches not a major storm as lee said but new york city officials despite the lowered forecast gearing up nonetheless. mayor de blasio issuing a hazardous travel advisory. the mta plans to keep subways working. workers will be on hand to salt and clear tracks and platforms. hundreds of plows ready to go with 300,000 tons of rock salt. if that doesn't seem to be enough, the city will step things up a notch. >> should the storm be higher than anticipated, we'll also deploy over 100 front end loader plows as well as our 36 melters. >> yes, they are ready. perhaps some of the only good news about the storm, if you have a car on the street, alternate side parking rules will be suspended saturday. if by chance you miss any of lee's

newscasts every day, you can watch what he's tracking on our free accutrack weather alert app. tonight lee will have another edition of his solid goldberg live. join him tonight, ask him anything you want. we're going to turn to the other news of the night. breaking news in an arrest in the random slashing of a social worker in lower manhattan. a 28-year-old man has been arrested. the victim needed 150 stitches to close up the wound on his face. eyewitness news reporter tim fleischer is at the police headquarters in lower manhattan with the very latest. >> manhattan detectives making what amounts to a very quick arrest in this east village slashing. they were here at police headquarters making that announcement a short time ago. you will recall that anthony christopher-smith, he's a social worker from newark, was the victim. he was slashed across his face, requiring 150 stitches. nypd officials say

they say this was a random attack, at least that's what they've been able to determine so far. they also point out that salud was arrested and out on $30,000 bond after a similar slashing back in october. comparing those two cases, also the physical characteristics of the suspects, detective nancy yewell was able to put old fashion police practices to work. >> after interviewing several individuals, we were able to identify francis salud. he's a 28-year-old asian originally from queens and currently living on lower manhattan. he has a number of prior arrests for assault and criminal possession of a weapon. >> again, detectives were able to compare those two different slashings and also the physical characteristics to bring forth the arrest this afternoon. we're waiting for the arraignment of the suspect. reporting live in lower manhattan, tim fleischer,

>> we'll have the latest tonight at 11:00. as we continue with eyewitness news at 6:00, an arrest tonight in the murder of a pediatrician in her mansion in westchester county. an arrest and murder that have stunned the neighborhood. >> mayor de blasio calls for more spending to speed up ambulance response times in new york city but who's going to pay for it all? >> what may be the most

a man is under arrest in westchester county charged in the brutal murder of his wife. dr. robin goldman, pediatrician with mont fury-- montfury hospital. this is the first murder in scarsdale since 1977. new at 6:00, new yorkers might be tightening their family budget belts but the city government is loosening its budget a notch or 2 billion. >> mayor de blasio is offering his newest budget, $82 million, and spending is up. >> that means more money for the homeless, for ambulances, for safety on the streets and in the parks. >> here's political reporter dave evans. >> reporter: the mayor admits his budget does not have a lot of drama. he wants it that way and admits he's worried about

times it's better to be boring. >> the slowdown and growth in some of the other economies is much more pronounced than what we're seeing a year ago so there's a lot to be concerned about. >> reporter: but the mayor is earmarking about 900 million to ease overcrowded classrooms, $50 million on trying to fix the homeless problem and $50 million on ambulance times. response times are to 9:52, and council members say the mayor has got to do more. >> i don't think he's putting enough tours to bring down the response time. our emts and paramedics are working harder than before. >> the mayor, who was clearly bothered by news of a gang rape is earmarking $5 million to hire 67 more park security officers. >> i think it's critically important that we have another set of eyes in our public parks throughout the city of new york. >> and on his feud with the governor, after saying medicaid

and today a warning from the mayor. >> the governor, it's obviously been well reported said these proposals would, quote, not cost the city a penny and i'll certainly hold him to that. >> the mayor is planning to hire 327 new traffic agents not to write tickets, claims it's to help with congestion. the mayor is putting about a billion dollars in a rainy day reserve just in case the economy really does keep getting worse. city certainly saved money this winter on snow removal. that's about to end. lee is fine tuning his accuweather

wow. the internet is crazy fast here. i know, right? it's so nice to have everyone over. hi hey. mmm. i just laid an egg. does anybody want it? joey, you want some gasoline? yes, please. mom, guess what? i married a clown and we're having tiny little clown babies. mhm. i just bought a hammer. with internet fast enough for everyone, your guests might get a bit carried away.

you hear blizzard watch, blizzard warning, you think a ton of snow. but that's not necessarily the case. >> it's those conditions, 35-mile-per-hour winds, frequent gusts, then you have visibilities that go down to a quarter mile.

a while, we could have a three-hour blizzard, it be over and get 3 feet of snow. as we look to the south, conditions are nice and clear and visibility is good. that will not be the case as we head through late friday night, early saturday morning. 31 degrees our temperature right now. high today, mid 30s. felt like 20s with the gusty breezes. planner through the day tomorrow, start out with sunshine, chilly morning. get to about freezing in to the middle 30s. clouds will be increasing. high clouds middle of the day and clouding over during the afternoon. that's the cloud cover coming from our storm for the south and west. patchy clouds around right now actually clearing out. there's our storm down to the south. moving through louisiana. look at that squaw line, rains reaching toward the tennessee valley. going to be snowing in dc at this time tomorrow. i don't think it's snowing in new jersey. flakes may be approaching cape may. here's the concern for your late friday night. garden state parkway, maybe 195. first

get slick in terms of the roads late friday night and by dawn on friday, as the snow gets started in new york city, we the ground whitened here across monmouth, ocean, middlesex, somerset counties. the snow is just getting going in new york city and takes in to the mid and late morning to get in to the hudson valley. these areas here, while the storm track has shifted a little farthest east, you get in to bands like these which are depicted here in monmouth getting in to the island, new york city, burgen and westchester county, these have higher snowfall rates and you can hit the top end of the ranges. that's why much of the area is in the 6 to 12. we can still approach the foot of snow. once we get farther north of i-84, we're going to be out of reach. it's going to be a lower impact storm. the brunt should go through early evening then start quickly diminishing and pulling offshore. this is still

between 3:00 and 10:00 or 11:00 in the morning. this is winding down toward daybreak. with some of the adjustments with the storm track i still have 6 inches over new york city and in the 6 to 12-inch band, closer to the 6 than the 12 right now but still there. to the north of the city, 3 to 6 inches. north of i-80 in to the lower hudson valley. possibility for half a foot here. now we get north and west of i-287. we're looking at 1 to 3 inches and maybe little to no accumulation. jackpot amounts likely to be across central and southern new jersey toward the philly area. over a foot of snow here. there can be mixing along the coast although i don't think that's a big player in the storm. patchy clouds, chilly breeze. wind chills in the teens tonight. for tomorrow, 34. fading sunshine. cold and then the snow breaks out south to north toward daybreak. midday saturday in to saturday evening. want to point out we're going to have big time gusty winds. winds could gust to 60 miles per hour along the coast.

tide times are saturday morning around 7:00 to 10:00 in the morning. then again in the evening hours and another high tide sunday morning will be problematic with a surge that could be 3 to 4 feet on the jersey shore which could be major coastal flooding. we'll clear it out and clean it up on sunday. i'll have an update at 11:00, facebook live at 8:45. >> so many potential problems. rob is up next with sports. >> busy night here too. baseball, nuggets, both local teams. the mets wait for news

i'm neil patrick harris and new york is my home. no place has more world class culture. come winter, i can't wait to visit our must-see collections of art and superb photography and film. new york has beautifully restored theaters, that are now important centers for the performing arts. and museums that preserve the glories of the past. winter in new york state means more great things to do than ever. plan your trip at iloveny.com there's something for everyone. the common core rollout was a disaster. parents knew it. teachers knew it. and now, governor cuomo's task force is doing what's right. state tests don't unfairly count against students. and test scores won't be used in teacher evaluations. less testing. greater focus on learning. that's a start, but there's more to do.

that help every child -- in every neighborhood -- succeed. big winter storm coming. the whole atlantic seaboard and we're going to have baseball. >> perfect time to talk. met fans, try to picture this.

-- one-two punch not only not back next season but in the middle of the nationals lineup. the nats did sign daniel murphy. other teams are interested and that includes washington. the nats missed out on a couple other guys. cespedes now on the radar. not saying the mets are out here, just saying there's another team swimming in the free agent pool. aroldis chapman will not face criminal charges in florida after the alleged domestic dispute. officials made their finding public today but major league baseball still investigating, could still penalize chapman under its domestic violence policy. getting closer to game day in the nfl. conference title games in the afc. broncos, patriots. how about the denver defense tweaking pats tight end rob gronkowski, suggesting they

has a history of knee troubles and a history of playing very well. >> just got to watch out, get your pads down. it's football. so you've got to be ready for contact at all times. nfc game, the cardinals travel to face the carolina panthers. should be one more big match-up. 7-1 on the road. carolina has been on top all season long. cards coach bruce arians doing his best lee goldberg impression when asked about the weather. >> looks like it's going to be 37, 38 and clear. the wind is the only thing that's a factor. no big deal. >> mike maccagnan named executive of the year. nhl tonight, devils host the senators. local nba teams are off. what had the garden proud on its feet chanting his name? when williams out muscled three guys for a rebound. up and in for the basket plus the foul. he was the number two overall draft pick five years ago. signed this year with the knicks. sure looks like

he has been real good. american jack scott. top seeds play later tonight. mon mouth university having a good season entertaining on and off the court. laura behnke with more on those high flying hawks. >> reporter: you may have seen them on sports center or all over social media. now meet the monmouth bench mob. >> nobody was ever excited to sit on the bench and now i feel like people, they see the bench has something more than just sitting on the bench. >> huge teams that were playing so we knew we were going to have to bring a really new level of energy. >> reporter: and bring it they did, becoming the most creative celebrators in the ncaa. >> we all bounce ideas off each other. there's definitely ideas that get vetoed. >> we all love it. >> sometimes on the bus to the game we'll be like, what are we going to do today? >> every time during the game i never know what's happening then i go home, turn on espn.

fact, i'm like where am i when tyler is laying down on the floor for like 8 seconds? >> we feel like we have this pressure to top the last one. >> i don't see us running out of ideas. >> reporter: there wouldn't be any bench celebrations without something to celebrate. the hawks have surprised many this year, currently in first place in the mac and eyeing what could be their first tournament appearance in a decade. >> they do their job on the bench. we do our job on the court. >> we believe we can beat anybody. anything is possible. >> reporter: with the hawks in monmouth, laura behnke, channel 7 eyewitness news. >> the opposing team's reaction, sometimes not so good. what's coming up tonight on eyewitness news at 11:00? sade is here with the answer. >> coming up tonight, new concerns about a mosquito virus that is spreading. the new warning about where women are being told not to get pregnant at least for now. also we'll tell you what tsa agents say passengers are trying to bring on planes. those stories and more coming up tonight on eyewitness news at 11:00.

thanks for