the man who died, now identified as david wichs a 38- year-old who worked at a training farm. >> the crane collapsed around 8:30 this morning on werth street between church and west broadway. a piece of the crane, a 4600- pound counter weight came crashing into a nearby building and landed on the deck. here's what the scene looked like late this afternoon. we have two reporters, jim hoffer on the investigation itself and tim fleischer on the collapse and the victim. we begin with tim. >> reporter: bill, some believe this collapse could have been a lot worse, more people injured or killed had it not been for the snowy and windy weather. now, you're also pointing out that it was the weather that was the reason they were bringing the crane down to begin with. >> i thought they were just lowering it down, so when it crashed it shocked me. >> reporter: the crane was

up and it began snowing harder this morning. as seen in this video, suddenly as the giant arm was being brought down, it started twisting. the 565 feet of steal weigh 300 tons, crashing to the ground. this tmz video also captures the moment after the crane crushed several parked cars. >> it's really devastated. i happened to be at my desk and saw the crane come down. >> reporter: the twisted wreckage stretches along werth street. right outside, the sergeant's benevolent association officers. >> our first instinct was to run outside and render aid. >> reporter: the sergeants with the nypd found the victim who died, david wichs. three others were injured, two hospitalized. >> the crane was being lowered into the position, the danger to people on the street was less, and thank god we didn't

more people. >> reporter: the crane's frame work buckled and bent out of shape, most missing the buildings on the nair street. some pieces of debris crashed through windows and ceilings. this counter weight ending up on someone's desk. the crane was doing work when crews tried to secure it. streets. they have not detected the type of gas levels that give them fear of any further problems, but they are literally sweeping them every 15 minutes to check gas levels. >> it's so unfortunate, you know, when you see an event like this happening. >> reporter: peter allen says the crane has been there since monday, and because of the size he could not help but be concerned. >> it looked so stable. >> reporter: normally the street is crowded with people. >> a lot of the children who live next door in the residences, they stayed in. they weren't out there at that time. they would have been out there.

hour do not have an official cause. also we are being told the crane, this particular crane was just inspected yesterday. report live in tribeca, tim fleischer channel 7 eyewitness news. >> tim, thank you. we want to give you a different view of this part of tribeca where the train collapsed. shannon sohn giving us a bird's eye view. >> reporter: we have perspective of just how massive massive this is. that is where the base of the train set. we want to bring you through this, and give you an idea of how massive this scene is. you're looking at the base of the crane. as it came down, it came down hard, and it was 565 feet worth of crane, right there is where it crosses with west broadway, and there you can see as it starts to crush the cars parked there.

obviously receiving some damage here, very bad as you get further down the street, it started to do damage to buildings as well, and look at this car, not only is it crushed underneath what is left of the mangled frame of the crane itself, but it is buried under building debris as well, and we want to bring you back up because the end of this is church street. it took two city blocks for this crane to completely come down, over tribeca, shannon sohn channel 7 eyewitness news. we're going to turn to what may have caused this disaster. and cranes have collapsed here before. we know. this time the weather may have played a factor with gusts of nearly 30 miles an hour. these are pictures from the crane before and after the collapse. knowing a stomps coming -- a storm was coming, why wasn't this giant crane secure. >> not only were the winds strong, the crane with its boom 52 stories into the sky was

it was left that way overnight with the storm forecast for early this morning. first, the lowering of the 52 story boom seems under control. then it picks up speed, the boom crashing onto cars, and the streets below. a crane investigator tells us that operator error could play a role here as well as weather. >> that wind, that puts a lot of weight on the crane. it can tip them over. it has done it in the past. >> reporter: six months ago in saudi arabia, a similar type crane in strong winds collapses, killing a hundred people in mecca. video of that accident almost identical to today's collapse in manhattan. this morning, the winds from a quick moving winter storm picked up, workers moved in to try and lower the boom. >> it was being moved into a secure position because by the manufacturer's instructions as winds topped 20 miles an hour.

attempt to lower the crane failed raising questions about why it was left overnight extended to its maximum height of more than 500 feet above city streets with the winter storm forecast. >> 565 feet of boom up there. somebody should be checking the weather. >> reporter: just 24 hours of storm, the focus wasn't on securing the crane but on making it longer. >> yesterday's inspection was on the ground as they were putting an extension on the boom, and it was successful. >> reporter: the crane is owned by bane crane of long island city but was being operated by galaso trucking and rigging. it was a bay train involved in last year's accident on madison avenue, in which cables broke lifting a massive air- conditioning unit, injuring ten people. and in 2010, a bay crane had a mechanical problem that caused it to crash against a building in lower manhattan. >> the boom length for this unit was 565 feet. that's a very large crane.

there are 376 crawler cranes at various heights with permits to operate in the city along with 43 of those tower cranes. all of them operating at any given time, and most of them are in service now because of the huge building boom that is underway. the buildings department has about 32 full-time inspectors to make sure these cranes are operating safely in all booms. back to you. >> thank you, and you can see many more pictures and video from the scene at our web site, abc7ny.com. now, to the other news of the night. we begin with two new york cops shot last night at a housing project in the bronx tonight is out of the hospital. patrick espy grazed in the face by a bullet. he is at home now. his partner 24-year-old diara cruz still in the hospital. she was shot in the stomach and in surgery this morning. the man who shot them turning the gun on himself. with the story, here's eyewitness news reporter darla miles.

every police officer faces every time they go into those stairwells. >> reporter: two officers on a routine patrol up and down the stairwell while the new york city housing development, specifically called a vertical patrol walked into a marijuana deal, thursday evening around eight, and melrose's houses in the bronx, according to investigators. but they say instead of buying weed, 28-year-old malik chavis brought guns to the deal. he started shooting at the officers. he allegedly said i'm about to die. get out of the room, i ain't going back to jail. >> they want to hang out in the hallway. he tried to stop them from hanging in the hall way, but they don't patrol worse than what it was. >> reporter: the officer was grazed in the head, and miraculously left the hospital at noon. diara cruz is still there, recovering from a gunshot wound to the torso. >> she's on the mend, doing

number of days here before she's hopefully walking out as well. >> reporter: vertical patrols were called into question in 2014, when officer peter yang accidentally shot and killed a girl because he had his gun drawn without any apparent threat. pba president says those critics should consider what happened thursday night at melrose. >> the question in that is the police officer had his weapon out. this shows why we do. >> and that was darla miles report. folks in long island digging out from snow that blanketed both counties. slick roads made driving treacherous for drivers. there were dozens of accidents, including one where a car slammed into a tanning salon in lindenwood. they ran a normal weekday schedule with delays averaging 15 minutes or so. some folks stayed at home to clean up the mess. it was a similar story in nassau county where the thick

at one point snow was falling so fast. snowfall led to school closures, kids dragged out of their snowboards and their sleds and not a lot of fun on the snow day. by the afternoon, clean up was well underway, and tonight the concern is back ice in some areas -- black ice in some areas, right lee. especially with the numbers dropping below freezing. look at the highest snowfall totals, glen cove at 7 inches, then we go to the hudson valley 4 inches, midland section of brooklyn 4 inches. there goes the snow. we have late day sun. we have had a lot of melting. the numbers are 37 degrees. empire state building is lit up for the super bowl over weekend. here's what we're concerned about with the heavy wet snow, and some of the wind that continues to the evening hours, we're worried about downed

refreezing and icy roads and falling snow off the buildings. so we'll be watching these problems and tell you how we go through the weekend. we have several snow threats to talk about into next week. we're tracking more storms in the 7-day forecast, i'll see you in a few minutes. >> he's talking like it's winter. it is winter. as we continue with eyewitness news at six for this monday night, when is the last time you got a raise, and what if you could vote for your own raise. we'll tell you how much more new york city council members will be getting, and how much

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at 11. new york police try releasing video of a man they say stabbed a woman with a sharp object as she waited for a subway train. take a look. this is the man police say stuck the victim in her arm possibly with a syringe. she was waiting for the r train at times square. the woman says she felt something pinch her arm. members of the new york city council gave themselves a 32% pay raise. the legislation passed today, with salaries going from $112,000 to $148,000. restrictions on outside income,

affect immediately. an independent commissioner recommended raising by so thousand less than what the council approved. >> our briefing paper presents our rational. we believe there's a value that should be added to the loss of the potential outside income. it was a modest amount of $10,000. >> mayo de blasio said he will not accept a pay raise. he makes $225,000. january's job the report, u.s. employers adding 151,000 jobs last month. that is down from recent months: but the unemployment rate fell to 4.9%. that's the first time it's been that low in 8 years. many people just stopped looking for a job. they are not included in that number. averages raises up 2 1/2 percent. not as much as the city council got. investors on wall street unimpressed by the mixed job report.

the dow 211 points, nasdaq off 146 points. s&p 500 dropping 35 and change. >> this is friday night. the weekend is almost here. >> lee's got your accuweather forecast next.

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there's no snow here in the city. i've got so much snow at my house tonight. none of it melted. >> it's a completely different world. you go in the suburbs and the snow is able to stick in many places. it came down hard for a while. but outside the city, i mean, especially long island, just incredible, the snow started accumulating. i was watching kristin thorne, meanwhile, what a fantastic sunset. how beautiful is that, we have this beautiful backdrop. when you get a powerful storm, in its wake, there's sinking air and dry air, and deep blue skies and a beautiful sunset. nice colors with the empire

they list it as a retro speculative for super bowl 50. maybe the colors of the various teams that have played in the super bowl. 37 degrees. westerly wind at 13. gust to go 21. pressure is recovering. i showed you the new york snowfalls before we went to break. how about new jersey freehold at 6 inches. we highlighted in monmouth and ocean county the possibility of getting to 6 inches. touching at 4 inches. ridgewood new jersey at 3 1/3, and west millford did pretty well. easton connecticut at 9 inches. fairfield 5 1/2, dan bury the low amount at 3 inches of snow. look how much colder we are because of the snow pack here. long island is going to drop into the low 30s and mid 20s by later on tonight. we will have refreezing here. poughkeepsie at 38. 36 in belmar. mainly clear skies overnight, gusty early evening, and the

watch out for early risers, headed up, watch to the icy roads, the numbers will be freezing by mid-morning. 40 to 45 during the afternoon hours. a whole loop of the storm, just incredible, like a windshield wiper went from blue to white as the cold air worked into the storms. thunder snow and the last of the snow bands moving out. the last of the snow sister is east of -- center and east of cape cod. we're clearing out skies now, and as this high gets closer, winds get lighter, clear skies, and things quiet down nicely for the upcoming weekend. we turn our attention to a couple lows. one in the pacific northwest, and this disturbance coming out of the rockies, both storm tracks are active right now. this will be our cold air supply as we go into next week. this will be the active storm track with the moisture. right now it looks like we storms circling us during the week. at some point, we're going to get accumulating snow. the question is do we get

strong that can give a major snowfall. i'm not seeing that yet. tonight, drop below freezing in the suburbs. the icy roadway is the concern. low and mid-40s. sunny to partly cloudy skies tomorrow. 30, clear and cold with diminishing wind. beautiful day tomorrow, 32 with patch write clouds. slippery spots as we go into early tomorrow morning. sunday is beautiful, super bowl sunday, then on monday, a big storm on radar offshore. it's so large we may get brushed by light snows monday afternoon, and from monday afternoon through wednesday morning, i can see how we have accumulating snows that we have to plow, but it's over a long duration. stays cold and snowy, maybe another significant storm friday of next week. >> a lot of snowflakes on that forecast there. >> february. >> thanks lee. rob's up next with sports. finally we get the game. plenty of football today. we get ready for the biggest event of the season, the super

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the road. visit your local hyundai dealer for incredible deals on your favorite hyundai deals. we are getting a good chuckle out of rob's facebook page. it has lee, rob and i looking like that, over something you'll see in a matterover seconds. millions of people wait for this day. >> tens of millions. it's not the super bowl. >> scores of millions for the final prognosis. we have to talk football. access to the players done until after the game is played. walk through tomorrow. and then finally super bowl 50 on sunday. today the commissioners state of the nfl address. roger goodell talks about where the game is, where it's headed, stadium deals, progress in technology to help with concussions, player conduct on and off the field.

should pursue where if there are two personal fouls in a game, there's an automatic ejection of the player. >> that would be the o'dell rule. the finalist for the walter peyton nfl man of the year were introduced, the giants e eli manning, for excellence on and off the field, making a positive impact in the community, the winner named tomorrow night. carmelo anthony is out of tonight's game, thomas has concussion symptoms. college ball, louisville's men's basketball has a self- imposed post year ban, to head after ncaa investigation. revealing infractions, a sex scandal, an escort louisville staffer paid her and dancers for their services with recruits and players. and finally from us, it is that time once again when alliteration runs wild and we

little help from my friends. >> the computer is going with peyton the bronco, 27-26, denver wins the game. i get grief every week, let's see what you can do. >> just like i picked the winning powerball numbers. heads its panthers, tails it's broncos. it was heads. i say panthers, 45 broncos, 42. but i like peyton. >> it's going to happen. triple overtime in the super bowl. >> this score is easy, as simple as a santa clara 7 day. last time peyton was here, a mild super bowl sunday, snow after the super bowl, and broncos got crushed. 31-10 panthers rule. for the real deal. >> you boys know nothing. if the panthers offense, cam is the key. the broncos pressured qb's in 35 percent of their snaps.

carolina's plus 20 truck 20 turnover margin is going to be good. let the d line run post snap stumps, free the backers and let the dbs do their job. in the end, are you listening, yeah, that trophy's going to panthers. 31-17. yep. but as always. >> your results may vary. that. >> i can just write that down for you. >> you're writing the sports for the next two years. >> espn is calling, they want you to anchor the entire day for them every day. >> i may have had a little help at home. >> good job putting that together. i'll take a look at stories we're working on for eyewitness news at eleven. sade is here. >> tonight we'll tell you what is going to be missing from m&ms and other products made by mars incorporated. the decision coming a short time ago, and we'll have it. don't worry if you crack your