reu in new -- advisory in new york city goes through 4:00 a.m. alternate street parking is already suspended until tomorrow. the nta is putting chains on buses to drive through the predicted snow. and it's predicting bus service will operate on a normal weekend schedule. >> right now a mandatory evacuation in the low lying areas. seaside heights, tuckerton and manesqua. >> we have reporters throughout the area covering all the preps for the blizzard. but we're going to begin with lee goldburg. he's tracking it all. >> we've been deliberating about this storm for nearly a week. finally the verdict is in.

area and it's only a few hours away. just looking at dry pavement. people scouring around big bags. it is going to be a 24 hour storm with the worse in the 24 hour period we will highlight. here's a look at the george washington bridge. may not be passable as we go through the day tomorrow. but blinding snow and accumulating snow. we're at 21 degrees right now. we've clouded over. we don't have snow in the area but look at this planner. snow showing up and getting steadier after midnight and going into the upper 20s. the snow advisory will go through sunday morning yet the worse will be through sunday evening. winter storm warnings are in the mid- and upper 30s. then you have advisories in suffolx county. coastal flooding a major issue with this. that's why you're hearing about the evacuations down the coast.

a flood surge of maybe 23-to 4 feet at the shore. there's the storm right now. and now we're starting to see it take shape it's already dropped a foot near parts of kentucky and the carolinas and the virginias. that low is forming right now. that's why snow is expanding. it looks like it's snowing in parts of central new jersey. it's not reaching the ground, still a few hours away. i think by 8:00 we could see it over parts of middlesex. but the air is a little dry so it's taking a little while. we could already be plowing by dawn. the blizzard, if brunt of the storm from 7:00 in the morning to 7:00 in the evening and the snow does end on sunday night. close to a foot or more in new york city and long island. higher ams in am -- higher amounts leading to the west. look at the 12 to 18-inch amounts. part of that could get into

we'll take the snow hour by hour. we'll highlight where that boundary is and some of the big snow amounts all coming up in accu weather coming up next. >> we're going to turn now to our reporters covering this winter weather emergency. mayor deblasio declaring an all hands on deck scenario. special emergency rescue equipment. if it is needed more firefighters on call as well. and lucy is live and continuing our coverage. >> reporter: here we stand in staten island where the beachs have been built up. you can see there's still one lonely crew out there on the beach. working to defeat this winter storm from flooding.

storm, city crews are shoring up areas expected to flood. here they beefed up the pads along the waterfront in anticipation of brutal high tides. >> we realize that there's the potential for a coastal erosion and the really terrific thing with our system is we have trapped eggs underneath the sands which is really substantial. and they are made to take the impact of the wave and the currents. just about every single new york city agency is in high gear. from sanitation trucks, to mta buses with chains. new york is ready and prepared for the worse. >> 579 salt spreaders will be predeployed tonight and ready to go. we have by the way over 300,000 pounds of salt ready. >> reporter: you can expect lots of closures in the blizzard. all public school events have been cancelled this weekend including athletic games and debate tournaments.

system at 11:00 tonight. and code blue for the homeless will go into effect when the temperature drops below 32 degrees. that means she means -- that means shelter will be provided but not stressed. >> if you see a homeless person stressed on the street call 911 immediately so we can do something about it. >> reporter: the mayor urging everyone stay off the streets so plows can do their work throughout the city. >> governor cuomo is telling new yorkers to stay home. >> in all of these situations one of the greatest burdens becomes stranded vehicles or stuck vehicles from people who are on the roads it's not just that you endanger yourself, you endanger the emergency

>> reporter: the governor says 20 # department of transportation trucks are heading into the area and 600 national guard members are ready for deployment. all state agencies are deploying marine equipment to low flying areas where we have seen significant flooding in the past. the folks of new jersey are trying to do that again. governor christie after insisting he would stay on the campaign trail today changing his mind and coming home. and there's work going into the beach shore but will they hold up. >> reporter: we're at the marina. we can listen to the water as its starts to already slam up against the docks out here. the folks out here are watching to see how high this will rise. they're not so much concerned along the jersey shore about the snow totals but they are very, very concerned about the

>> reporter: the key port fishery is closing down for the weekend because of the storm. it sits right in the bay and had water up to the ceiling following sandy. the owner hopes it won't get that high. >> they're saying two to 4 feet above that. customers are grabbing tonight's dinner and preparing to hunker down. >> we're getting a little nervous about it. waiting to see if there's an evacuation order or not. >> reporter: officials are calling for voluntary evacuation. >> we're asking people now to make plans and get their cars off the street. we're making available all the burrough parking lots. >> reporter: residents have been told if you elect not to voluntarily evacuate from seaside heights you should prepare for an extended period of immobility.

gasoline, food, medicine, and potable water. governor christie is returning to new jersey from his campaigning in new hampshire. >> it looks like it's going to be a pretty manageable storm. as storms go. it'll be much worse south of us than it will be for new jersey. but people get instruct -- get nervous about it. and for reasons that i'm sure you don't understand, they get comforted by my presence. >> reporter: and chris christie is meeting with jcp & l. >> if you don't have to go out, don't go out. these first responders need to go out. all these people in the electric trucks. >> reporter: officials are telling everybody to stay off the roads. particularly tomorrow when all of the emergency crews will be out there trying to do their work. once again, we do want to let you know that there is a mandatory evacuation in the

that's the latest live, from key port, anthony johnson. >> reporter: governor chris christie is scheduled to -- brief the public at 8:00. you can watch it here. big worries, high wind, high tide, full moon and a big storm surge. all conspiring to make the 3 million people who live on the island just a wee bit nervous. stacy continues our coverage. >> reporter: they're very nervous. they are nervous about the power outages but they're also nervous about flooding. especially in low lying areas like this one. the canals, here in long beach where you can see the water on the north side of the barrier island. the bay side of the barrier island; people are very concerned, but as you can see. these houses sit only feet away from the water.

known as the bay side of the city, where residents are more vulnerable than those on the land side. because millions of the dollars of funding for repairs is still years away. leaving many here with the feeling there's not much more they can do to avoid the flooding. >> i lost my house twice to irene and sandy. i don't have the strength to prepare. >> reporter: but officials are urges residents to clear out their storm drains and construction crews still working on postsandy renovations were securing up their repairs today. meanwhile pseg were out tree trimming, which is more prone to power outages, they expect it. but family members can only

>> getting ready in the slow cooker, so when my man gets home we can just sit down and eat and relax while the power lasts. >> we can't have guys up on the truck like that until the winds start to die down a little bit. >> reporter: and for that reason, pseg urging customers just be patient, wait for those winds to die down. they will have a thousand field crews available. plus another 400 that can come in and help if necessary. if you don't have power, you can call this number, 1-800-490- 0075. 1-800-490-0075 to report your power outage. they do expect a lot of them with the high winds that are expected. we're live in long beach. channel7, eyewitness news. >> going to be a very rough weekend for a lot of folks. airports in new york and new jersey will be open tomorrow but don't expect your flight to leave.

already been cancelled. united airlines canceling all flights in and out of newark. here is the number so far, 700 flights cancelled in laguardia. more than 300 cancelled at newark. and it's already coming down pretty hard in washington, d.c. blizzard warning is in effect there until 6:00 sunday morning with the worse of it coming tonight and into tomorrow evening. they are looking at nearly 2 feet of snow in that area. we invite you to stay with eyewitness news this evening and throughout the weekend for all the details you need about the storm and the clean up. we also have continuous updates on our website abc7ny and our social media pages. our on air coverage begins tomorrow morning at 6:00 a.m. and you can track the storm any time. get the latest forecast on our free accu track weather alert app. as we continue with eyewitness news at 6:00 for this friday night. some of the day's other news including new video as police

a woman outside a hotel near kennedy airport. if victim was trying to protect her pistol whipped daughter. news copter 7 over breaking news. a crash involving a police car.

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.

more now on that breaking news story. there's been an accident involving a police vehicle. >> you can see the front end damage to both the police cruiser.

orange avenue. and you can see that they do have it shut down there. but the closure continues on beyond that point between fairmont road and south eighth street. the reason for that is we have another police cruiser that was involved in a crash just a little ways down the road. you can see this car has hit into a fence and is now sitting up on the sidewalk. reporting live over newark. shannon sloan, channel 7 eyewitness news. >> shannon, thank you. and there's new video inside search for a gunman. police are looking for the man running to this jetta. a masked suspect jumped out of

pistol whipped and robbed a 20- year-old woman then shot her mother. you can tell this is a weather day when you're so

and if you have a broadway ticket for tomorrow, the shows are still on. that could change. but for now they're still on. >> the shows are going on. >> we're going to be plowing all day. >> maybe now they're trying to get in. >> he's been hyper focused. >> i am. you've distracted me by that. and i want to thank some of our viewers.

a.j. at ocean port and kerry in edentown. flurries flakes now. looking downtown, still seeing little specks of snow. getting steadier. we're at 29. the high today 30. it's cold. 28 in long branch. 29 sayerville. especially just away from the coast. numbers in the 20s here. it'll be a heavy wet snow right along the immediate coast. but not for most of the area. north and west could be more of a fluffy storm. cloudy skies, you have your snow developing in new york city by 10:00. the steadier snow is after midnight. we're going blizzard conditions tomorrow morning throughout the day. look at the wind gust 55 miles per hour at noon and along the coast over 60. what we're seeing now.

lightning. heavy snows in the dc area. snow flakes starting to get into philly but light. there's the initial little streak right just south of i78. and it's near ede ntown. a few flurries there. that's why i said route 26 is starting to get slippery. garden state. the snow getting into new york city and slowly getting into the hudson valley at daybreak and spreading through the entire area from mid-morning. the heaviest will continue to be from new york city north to east. lower and backed off to the north and west the storm should pull away during the evening hour. and i think this is mostly done a lot of this is leaving the scene. it will be white brown and plowing going on. 48-inches during the day. maybe more. five to 3-inches in the evening

around a foot in new york city. look at some of these amounts 12 to 18-inches central and northern new jersey and into new york city as well. six to 12-inches northern new jersey. north and west of i287. three to 6-inches. let's get in tight. some of this foot or more could get into staten island. brooklyn, queens, maybe into parts of long island. some of us getting into morris county as well. it's that northern new jersey lower hudson valley that's the toughest forecast because all of a sudden you're in the bigger snow totals. to the north is where it really tapers off. 25, snow develops by midnight. a few rain showers by dawn. very dangerous coastal flooding and beach erosion. snow tapers, blowing tomorrow night. it is an incredible rapid recovery on sunday. the sun is out. the wind is dying down we're in

we're looking at more melting 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.

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as i always say it's always great to be a baseball player in demand. >> you always say that. do they like him enough to resign him with the mets. that's what is being said about yoanis cespedes. fans would have so much trouble seeing cespedes in washington colors. the deal includes an opt out clause.

could be a free agent again in the market that will have slim pickings. the choice is his. championship sunday coming up in the nfl. the afc. the patriots are at denver. who knows this could be the last time we see peyton manning and tom brady play against each other. >> they've always had a lot of talent. you combine that with excellent coaching. >> if you make great plays, you will make a great chance of advancing, if not you'll be watching from home next week. thank you guys. >> no thank you, tom. he's caught 10 touchdown passes. playing on the road, no problem. cards 7-1 on the road this year.

this is probably not the right time. maybe april, may, june it's area. >> i love the guys that come and make the game fun. probowl. roethlisberger out with injury. the new york qb steps in. and federer is the first man to win 300 career grand slam singles titles. what he really wants now is to break that grand slam title drought. cavaliers have fired head coach tyler black and replaced him. 30-2 not good at all. >> if you think we're going to cover the storm tonight. you are right. sade is here with a preview. >> you're right about that. the first snow flakes are already falling in southern new jersey right now and moving closer toward us. new jersey governor chris christie is scheduled to brief