. this is new york's number one news. laura with sports and jeff smiths with the zoov accuweather forecast. now, eye witness news at 6. crane collapse tragedy. city crews are removing the pieces of that gigantic crane as they hunt for clues as to what claudes it to fall. and developing right now. a construction worker seriously hurt at a high rise new year grant central. we begin with new details about the crane collapse.

what caused a 565-foot construction crane to topple to the ground in tribeca yesterday killing a man on the sidewalk. officials want to recover the crane's computer which could provide vital clues. meanwhile, they're collecting pieces of the crane investigation. a.j. ross is in tribeca this evening. sandra and joe, the ongoing process of removing this crane is not about speed but precision. and now this structure is being carefully cut into 35 pieces to be shipped off and analyzing so engineers can figure out what caused this terrible accident. >>reporter: in the aftermath of a tragedy that has left so many shaken, engineering experts are now carefully sifting through and dissecting the remnants of this massive crane hoping they'll reveal clues as to what

>> the crane removal has started. >>reporter: during a press conference, they talked about the retrieval of the crane's removable computer that stores data that may prove helpful to the investigation. >> it will likely give us the angles of the boom. of the 2 pieces that were in action at the time. if it gives us more than that, well that will be an extra. >>reporter: with the help of 4 additional cranes and several crews, officials expect the entire removal process to last through sunday morning. in the meantime, several buildings near the site remain partially vacated and at least 75 residents will not have drinking water until next week. we talked with people nearby and their concerns. >> it's shocking. so sad. i can't imagine. so tragic. hopefully theltz be safer, you know,. >> there's a lot of things that are being overlooked. too many people and not enough

as they should. >>reporter: the city's department is also working closely with an independent consulting firm who is assisting with the crane's removal and the ongoing investigation. >> so we will look into how operations are done based on the size of the crane. >>reporter: now crews will be here through the evening hours and in addition to the building's department on scene, there's also the office of emergency management, several utility crews and nearly 75 firefighters and emt's so a very active scene and that's why this entire area remains blocked off tonight. thank you very much a.j.. we've learned that two people hurt in that crane collapse have been treated and released from the hospital. a firefighter was also treated and released. 73-year old thomas o'brien remains at the hospital. he was inside his car when the crane came crashing down on top

he suffered a laceration to the head. stay with eye witness news for the very latest on the crane collapse. you can see a slide show from the pictures at the scene at abc 7 ny. developing now, a construction worker seriously hurt. he was struck by concrete off a high rise building. it happened on madison avenue just west of grand central terminal. stephan is there in mid down. >>reporter: well joe, take a look at this building behind me being demolished on madison avenue between 42nd and 43rd streets. that worker was on the top floor of this building when he was knocked unconscious. >>reporter: the worker trachd 20 stories up in the air. it was around 2:30 when officials say that worker was performing work secured by a rope what i large chunk of concrete came crashing down

but when emt's came to remove him, the power to the elevator was out. so rescuers had to perform what's called a high angle rescue. >> we put him onto the stretcher and lowered him down in an interior shaft. >>reporter: fire officials say it's unclear if the debris is connected to work being done here. rescuers had to develop a complex system of pulleys to pull that worker up. >> a lot of special units. yeah. because they have the equipment to do that kind of stuff. special operations units. >>reporter: meanbhiel, this was not the first time workers injured at this site. last year, one worker sustained a serious but non life-threatening injury. the other suffered minor injuries. >>reporter: investigators here on this now looking into today's

construction worker at this hour in critical condition. reporting life in midtown, successfulan. eye witness news. thank you stephan. the count down to the new hampshire primary is on. candidates working across the state to secure votes. for the gop, it is also debate night. just hours away on abc. abc's marcy is in new hampshire with what we can expect. marcy. >>reporter: hi sandra. some of the gop candidates held events but most of today was spent prepping for the big debate tonight here. >>reporter: the stage is set for what's expected to be a slug fest. republican candidates out stumping today. >> what we have to do is save this country. >>reporter: before last time before the primary. >> on that stage tonight, you'll see a difference. we'll make sure you see a difference between those who are prepared to leave and those who

>>reporter: the latest poll showing donald trump with a 19 point lead in the debate following by marco rubio. >> he's willing to make dweelz democracies to try to force through amnesty. >>reporter: ted cruz supporters hoping he can push ahead. >>reporter: hillary clinton going door do door, too. >> i need your help on tuesday. >>reporter: nighting for momentum as she leaves bernie sanders by 2 points and is behind double digits in the granite state. >> i am confident we're going to win. >>reporter: a lot of confidence from candidates on both sides of course. republicans hopefully that tonight's debate will translate

should be an interesting evening. thank you marci. you can watch the republican debate tonight right here on channel 7 and on the watch abc app. it begins at 8:00. and our political reporter heading to new hampshire. you can watch his reports on the primary beginning monday on eye witness news. new at 6:00, an investigation under way in westchester county after radioactive water leaked into groundwater at the indian point nuclear facility in buchanan. alarming levels of radioactivity were found in three wells yesterday. the level in one well increased 65,000 percent. however, the officials claim the contaminated water has not moved off-site and there is no public threat. a criminal investigation at an ivy league school. the president of an elite

the serious charges he faces and his connection to the night life scene. child after child pulled to safety. the desperate effort to save more lives. and we're watching our coastal storm just now starting to develop off the southeast coast. that represents just one of a couple of possibilities of in and of itself dur 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.

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governor andrew cuomo will get an award from a prominent gay rights group. today he wants to stop people from -- insurance now banning health insurers for what's -- the governor tweeted we will not allow the intolerant to punish lgt people for who they are. eye witness news reporter lucy is in the east village with new information. lucy. >>reporter: well sandra, a junior at cornell university with ties here to new york city is charges. police believe he tried to rape a young woman in his frat house bedroom. >> hi.

>>reporter: video clip posted on youtube. the 21-year-old junior at cornell university speaks positively about hard work and future dreams. tonight, wolf gang ballinger is being held on $25,000 bail for allegedly trying to rape a student in his bedroom. >> i believe my family has given me the strive -- >>reporter: according to police, the attack happened last weekend. ballinger turned himself in and his fraternity psi upsilon chi has now been placed on suspension. he said he would like to open a restaurant someday and own real estate. his father owns a popular music club webster hall in the east village. in this youtube post, he boasted $3,000 a day while running the bar at his father's club.

and his attorney says his innocence will be established at the proper time and in the proper place which is in the courts. not in the media. >>reporter: now we reached out to the club for comment, so far no response ballinger is due back in court on the tuesday morning. we're live in east village. i'm lucy for channel 7. louis each of them thank you. the search continues in taiwan for at least 100 people still missing after a deadly earthquake. the 6.4 earthquake caused a high rise apartment complex to collapse. at least 16 people were killed. this is video footage of rescuers pulling children from the pile. at least a bunch of rescuers on ruins. a new jersey man charged with crashing into i building early this morning.

an office building in fair ee field. they say he smashed through one set of doors, drove down a hallway and barreled out the other side. officers pulled him over a short time later. it is the calm before the storm. coming up, a quiet weekend so far but another round of snow as a small business owner, here's one thing you can rely on: your business will change as it grows. whether it's new space, more employees, or better equipment, things have a way of moving fast. but if your network can't keep up, it can really slow you down. and that's not good for business.

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protect our children. one of the city's foremost cultural institutions provided families -- invited families in out of the cold to celebrate the arts. lincoln center held its first ever winter warm-up event. children and parents were invited to dance the night away -- dance the cold away at a silent disco party --. easy to stay with the beat when the music is silent. [laughter]. even i'm a good dancer. yeah. the movie screening was the warm part. we're going to be looking for the warm part this next week. we do. it's a very wintery forecast. flakes will fly monday through wednesday. the question is will it add up? i think you will see some accumulation in areas. we head out outside right now. and the empire state building lit up in colors tonight for the

wind gusts up to 17 and that southwesterly wind will help to pump in some milder air for tomorrow. today's high only got up to about 40 which is right on target for this time of year. that is your normal high for february 6th. the record was in 2008. tomorrow, some sunshine and 40s. and we talk about intermittent snow. there's one system -- big ocean storm might come close enough to spread some accumulating storm to long island today and into wednesday. minor coastal flooding also possible with the new moon coming up. tides are astronomically running higher than average already and you combine that with an onshore floor and you get some tides. you have more of a snowpack over

and it stayed colder today. you're getting colder into monitor sello. just east of jacksonville -- this heads off to the east and northeast. tries to make a turn off to the north. i think it's too late to give us a blockbuster storm here. here's our future cast tonight. into tomorrow morning, you get 20s into the suburbs. by sunday morning just above the freezing mark. look at temperatures getting well up in the mid-40s. and then we talk about this storm. far enough north, there will be some flakes flying for the monday morning commute and at least in the east -- this might be exaggerating the western extent of the in and of itself at the moment. this is preliminary -- this can change but one to 3 inches seems

that band probably limited to eastern parts of new england. patchy clouds. colder in many of the burbs's. down to 34. again, the accumulating snow east of new york city. and then we have to watch another system developing off parts of west virginia. tuesday into early wednesday. this can spread some more snow into parts of the area and that can feature accumulation. as we head into wednesday, we tend to clear things out late 40 down to freezing for a high on thursday. and even colder than that next weekend. 20s for a high next saturday. a lot to watch and we'll be updating tonight. thank you. laura next with sports. hmm... what do you think we're going to talk? [laughter] at this point, what more can be

about 24 hours to go, we're still making that happen. the game is almost here. the hype? it's almost over and football is actually being played. we'll take a trip to the bay area.

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. don't know if you've heard, there's a big game tomorrow. hmm... which one might you be speaking of? ha ha. after 2 weeks of talking, this could be the biggest football game of the year. so really, there's one thing remaining -- let's play the football game, shall we? the excitement buildings in the san francisco bay area. both the teams held their practices. today it's just about walkthroughs and getting in a good night's sleep. kick-off is tomorrow at 6:00. well, wavelength their red hot start, the rangers look like two different teams. the road team and the home team. today, they try to find a consistency away from madison square gardens. ugly here in the first. wayne and this guy exchanging words.

return while summons got ejected. the flyers taking the lead. lindquist 2 to 1 now. it goes in with 12.9 seconds left. derek ends it here. beats mason 3-2. the rangers with the big shootout win. the islanders also playing hockey. with detroit. quincy making it count. that made it 2-0 wings. the home team -- it was a power play. and then a very bizarre moment in the second intermission. rarely to zap bonies zap bonies make highlights. and in newark today, moore drops the ceremonial puck.

tied for now. changing 17th of the year. devils go up 2-1. didn't last too long. perry picking a good time for his nhl career goal. yeah -- he beats insider. 3-2. the devils fall. the nicks are back in action in a pre-super bowl tilt. the fourth straight, that was the last night. anthony sat out again. and watched his team hang around only to see aaron miss the final shot with 8 seconds left. the grizzlies go on to win. as for the nets, they face the 76ers. last night, brooklyn put on its

taking on the kings at barklay center. to the college hardwood now where saint johns is still looking for its win. we will have those highlights for you at 11. and speaking of that win, records for nebraska. sanders, he had 28 points to lead. up three with that shot but then a scary moment in the second. shields landing on his arm and upper back. taken out on a stretcher. good news is he has movement in his extremities. 87, 63 nebraska rolls.

that is the news for you like being picture perfect. you should want your banking to be too. stop into td bank and we'll help set you up with picture perfect banking. new customers, open a checking and savings account and you can get a polaroid cube+