who took on slavery takes over the 20 dollar bill. move over, andrew jackson, there's a few face in town and she's money.

will replace andrew jackson on the $20 bill. he's an american hero helping hundreds of slaves escape to freedom. the new bill is set to be designed by 2020, the hundredth anniversary of women's suffrage. she once said every dream begins with a dreamer. always remember you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach the stars. to change the world.

she was attacked, she was robbed, she was held hostage in her own home. an 84-year-old woman talking to us exclusively about her ordeal, and how she tried to win over t, all new at 11:00, a frightening series of armed robberies. many of the victims targeted when they're getting out of taxi cabs. good evening at 11:00. i'm liz cho. sade is off tonight. >> i'm bill ritter. the robbers point a gun. the vulnerable riders give them their money. the bad guys already striking at

>> aj ross is in richmond hill, queens with the latest. >> it's an alarming robbery pattern police are anxious to put an end to with the recent incident happening nine days ago. it's the same m.o. with these armed thieves targeting taxi cab riders and drivers. they're hoping surveillance video will help put these guys behind bars. >> reporter: cold and calculated, police are on the hunt for an armed pair of thieves targeting cab riders in queens. the two seen in this surveillance video robbed more than a dozen people at gunpoint over the past two months. and gotten away with a thousand dollars in cash and stolen goods. >> things are getting pretty risky. as far as i'm concerned, i've got to be on the watch too. >> reporter: among the 14 reported robberies spanning back to march 3rd, investigators say there's a distinguishable pattern. with this duo primary targeting taxi riders as they exit on to

hours at which point they pull out a gun, demand cash, credit cards, and electronics. >> it's a crazy city. you've got to be careful walking around and got to protect yourself. >> reporter: they've since struck several different parts of richmond hill. police are hoping someone will recognize them and give them a call before they strike again. >> it's scary. it's dangerous. you've always got to be prepared, cautious, and always keep your eyes open. >> if you have any information that can help police, you can call anonymously. 1-800-577-tips. aj ross, channel 7 eyewitness news. speed may have been a factor in the crash of an ambulance on long island that killed two people. the driver and the patient were killed this afternoon when the ambulance crashed in to an overpass in west hempstead. we've learned tonight that the patient had just received a heart and kidney transplant and

a paramedic in the back of the ambulance survived. there were no skid marks on the road. you saw it burn on eyewitness news early tonight. several houses, bone dry land and a stiff wind. demolition started on one home but the fire proving that indeed one spark can start a huge brush fire. eyewitness news reporter jim dolan in suffolk county with the latest. >> just take a look. this is all that's left. not much of the house where the fire started. it was an electrical fire, an air conditioner. that fire was fueled by winds and it became monstrous. >> reporter: it devoured the home it seemed in seconds. the wind off the water like gasoline. soon it spread to homes on either side. flames whipped in to a frenzy by the wind, climbed in to the clear blue sky over lindenhurst. >> it was flames, bright orange,

very hot. so hot, the glasses got hot. >> it flew right through the whole house. >> it was a big fire, right? it went high, right? >> high and melted these houses. it was unbelievable how the heat -- even standing in front of my house was so hot. >> reporter: firefighters just tried to make sure it didn't spread beyond the homes already engulfed but the wind made that impossible. embers spreading the fire across the canal to indian island but that's just land. back in lindenhurst, they were trying to save a neighborhood. >> there was a mother and a child who thank god the mother was alert, recognized there was something wrong and got out of the house with her child in time. >> from this distance, from me to you with the camera, you couldn't see. it was blinding smoke. >> reporter: ralph has chickens in his yard and a vegetable garden just starting to grow but that was the least of it. >> my daughter's boyfriend was on my roof spraying the hoses down.

right on the water was hit hard by is still recovering from sandy. a home that was destroyed had just been rebuilt. >> the party has two weeks to go and they would have been moved in again. they have to start all over. she was over at our house before and just unbearable. she's in tears. frustrating. >> you heard a couple people there say how hot this fire was. we moved across the street to show you the house across the street. it was so hot that it melted the vinyl siding over here. so hot it actually popped a taillight on a car that was parked out here, remarkably just two firefighters with minor injuries. no one else hurt. reporting live from lindenhurst, jim dolan, channel 7 eyewitness news. we're learning new details

connecticut accused of bringing a gun to school. court documents say 46-year-old jason adams was carrying a loaded ..45-caliber pistol inside a holster when he was arrested two weeks ago. police say adams had a valid pistol permit but state law prohibits firearms on campus. a little boy critically hurt after running in to the path of a car on a street in brooklyn. the 6-year-old crossing mid-block in borough park when a lexus sedan hit him. he was thrown under an suv parked nearby. firefighters rescued him. the boy rushed to lutheran medical center. the driver stayed at the scene. no charges have been filed, at least not yet. a community on edge after a sexual predator tried to rape a jogger in one of new york city's most popular parks. the 23-year-old woman says the man grabbed her from behind in prospect park during her pre-dawn run this morning. she says he threw her to the

and tried to sexually assault her. the woman who refused to be a victim fought back. however, she suffered a cut to her finger by the knife during the struggle. she was attacked by a man with a knife and forced in to her apartment in the bronx. that's where she was held hostage. an 84-year-old woman robbed of her money but not her dignity. all the while she kept her cool, trying to win over her attacker by making him a meal. tonight she's talking exclusively to eyewitness news reporter rob nelson. >> reporter: the 84-year-old victim, who did not want her face on camera, was coming home from church when a man suddenly pounced on her from the stairwell, pushed her inside her apartment, threw her to the floor, and began to choke her. >> all i was thinking, i hope he doesn't kill me. that i'll see my grandchildren, my children again. >> reporter: the man, still on

large knife, and threatened to hurt the woman if she did not give him all the money she had. this loyal churchgoer complied, scrounging up about $300, some of it hidden under her mattress. he at one point the victim even offered the attacker wine and made him a sandwich, desperate courtesies just to get him to leave, which he did not for two and a half hours. >> do you feel unsafe in the building? >> right now i'm basically on my own. i couldn't go out because i'm afraid he'll come back up the stairs. >> reporter: police say surveillance video which they have not released shows the suspect wearing a black leather jacket and a black hat with the man still out there somewhere, the victim, a native of ireland who has lived in the bronx for 60 years says she no longer feels safe in her own apartment and is temporarily moving

daughter. she says before the suspect left, it was only faith that got her through. >> i'm all right now. god is good to me. that's all i have to say. >> the victim says she's sore after the attack but nothing wrong with her spirit. the day after the attack on tuesday, she did get up to cast her vote for hillary clinton. news. now to vote 2016. new york's attorney general launching an investigation in to irregularities. eric schneiderman says his thousand complaints. the most common, people who tried to vote but said they were no longer registered. new york city controller conducting an audit of the city's board of elections. the election problems last night prompting a civil lawsuit tonight and demands for answers. wronged.

building. one read, where are our votes? the second read bob, board of elections, we want action now. >> the board of elections has been on record saying we're sorry we made a mistake. we're busy. that's their excuse, that 126,000 voters in brooklyn alone were unable to vote yesterday. we've had enough of new york state and other places not taking democracy seriously. >> meanwhile, an attorney representing 15 voters late this afternoon filing notice of a civil lawsuit against the city's board of elections. as for the candidates hoping to be the next president, they stumped hard ahead of several primaries next tuesday and the week after. hillary clinton and her husband, the former president, focused on pennsylvania, talked about gun control today. clinton with a 13% lead to the polls there over senator bernie sanders. meanwhile sanders for his part took today off to relax in his

he's going to visit pennsylvania tomorrow. as for the republicans, frontrunner donald trump spent the day in maryland and indiana. indiana's primary is in two weeks but trump is not happy with the state's delegates. they've already pledged for ohio governor john kasich. ted cruz came yesterday's new york primary, spent most of the day in pennsylvania. next tuesday voters go to the polls in pennsylvania, rhode island, connecticut, maryland, and delaware. new york mayor de blasio also campaigning today, addressing quality of life issues at a town hall meeting on staten island. the mayor taking questions from residents about several local concerns. this happened at ps48. he's promising better treatment options for the addiction epidemic of heroin and other opiates. he says he'll make sure the borough gets its own indoor swimming pool. coming up, a nun convicted of drunk driving. new tonight, hear what she says really happened the night she got behind the wheel and was

we're going to tell you what mocks these different and a whole lot harder to get rid of. >> and that dry streak is about to come to an end.

i'm meteorologist lee goldberg in the weather center. eighth straight dry day. manhattan was sort of a desert island earlier this afternoon. look at the 9% relative humidity. it's going to be dry again tomorrow. we're at 57, a chill in some spots overnight especially in the suburbs. your wake-up weather, 49 degrees and clear sky. we have fire danger to talk about and rain in the accuweather forecast for a change. that's just under 3 minutes away. new tonight, another powerful after shock tonight rocking ecuador. this one a magnitude 6.0. after shocks really complicating the search for survivors from saturday's magnitude 7.8 quake. the death toll now at least 553. about 7,000 people injured.

been rescued from all that rubble, but hope is now dwindling. humanitarian aid is slow to arrive where it's needed. in our area, a candlelight vigil for the victims and survivors in ecuador. this is in corona, queens. the tri-state home to the largest population of ecuadorian-americans in the u.s., more than 300,000 living here. we're learning more about the roust of the so-called ninja burglar. robert costanza was arraigned today. he admitted to a crime spree that spanned a decade while living as an unassuming family man on staten island. he's been linked to 150 burglars across the tri-state and allegedly stole more than $4 million in money and good. no one is above the law, and tonight a nun convicted of drunk driving. sister kimberley miller crashing in to an auto shop. she claims she took a sedative

her words, sleep driving. for some reason the judge didn't buy that and suspended her license for 90 days, slapped her with a fine. she's been suspended from her teaching job since this happened. hamas tonight claiming one of its followers is responsible for a bloody bus bombing in jerusalem on monday. 20 people were hurt when the 19-year-old terrorist blew himself up. the palestinian islamic militant group praised the teenage bomber as a martyr. it's raised concern that suicide bombers targeting israelis once again as they did from the to 2005. federal authorities say they've discovered the longest drug tunnel ever found along the california-mexico border. a half mile long tunnel from the house in tijuana, mexico to a fenced lot in an industrial area in southern san diego county. the tunnel had lights, elevator. six drug trafficking suspects with more than a ton of cocaine

marijuana could soon be legal in canada. the country's health ministers telling the united nations today legislation will be introduced to legalize pot by next spring. it would include measures for keeping pot from children and consequences for drug abuse. the prime minister says decriminalizing marijuana would system. >> several states here doing it and now it's spreading a little bit. we've got a change in the >> we do. you're talking about going in to a nine-day dry stretch that will end tomorrow and then on friday in. it's much needed rainfall. parts of the area could get a quarter inch to half inch of rainfall but it won't be widespread. another clear beautiful night. buildings in midtown, manhattan. 57 degrees. 32% humidity. naturally the humidity comes up this time of night but it will still be very dry in to the day tomorrow. humidities will climb up later tomorrow and in to friday. the high today shy of that 70-degree mark.

10 degrees above average tomorrow. there are your sunrise and sunset times. a very bright thursday but certainly more cloudiness as the day wears on. few suburbs. it's a warmer wind that can gust over 20. high fire risk for sure. there could be a thunderstorm on friday, especially late in the day in to the evening hours. then you're looking at another nice weekend coming up. probably 70 on saturday. 64. but it does look mainly dry over the weekend. just might be an early shower especially east of the city on saturday. a little chill in the air in randolph, new jersey. there could be spotty. we're 49 in brentwood. 45 in lakehurst. see the humidities, you can see how far the atlantic impacts, up to about i-287 in the merit where the humidities have climbed now. still very dry inland. it will be very dry tomorrow and couple that with the winds. it's a frost advisory interior fairfield, parts of the hudson

new jersey. the fire weather watch is still only out for new jersey but i anticipate it being out for much more of the area through the afternoon hours. notice the wind. it starts out light tomorrow. you'll notice patchy cloudiness and the wind starts getting gusty ent afternoon with highs in the lower and middle 70s but it's rain-free. our protective shield of high pressure is moving offshore. this slow moving storm is going to swing a band of shower, even a rumble of thunder through friday. more clouds mixing in during the day. friday is not a wash out. there might be a stray shower during the morning hours especially north and west and then it becomes more widespread later in the day in to the evening. the heaviest showers will be focused north and west. remember, chill in the air out the door tomorrow morning with a spring jacket. carrying it tomorrow afternoon. low and middle 70s. here comes the clouds thickening tomorrow night with a shower by late morning, a heavier shower west. it's more likely in the afternoon and evening hours. you'll need your umbrella friday night. first night of passover, might

40 degrees in the suburbs. breezy and warmer. sun mixing with clouds. tomorrow night, pretty mild. 59 degrees. there can be a passing shower remember your friday showers are more likely in the afternoon. 76. saturday. cooler sunday. then cooler in to the next week, probably a shower threat on monday in to early tuesday. bill evans will have an update on that in the morning. coming up next, there are bedbugs and then there are super bedbugs. i've been blind since birth. i go through periods where it's hard to sleep at night, and stay awake during the day. learn about non-24 by calling 844-844-2424.

in tonight's health alert, alarming news about those so-called super bedbugs. a new study reveals bedbugs have developed a thicker skin. yeah. and they've become even more difficult to get rid of than before. researchers in australia say the blood sucking parasites have

protects them against commonly used bedbug sprays. new tonight, the u.s. air force smashing a speed record and we have the amazing video. take a look at this. no, that's lee goldberg in his car. this is the fastest speed ever for magnetically levitating vehicle. it uses helium to elevate the sled. at that speed the sled could cover the distance from new york city to los angeles in less than four hours. >> wow. >> hard to watch a movie in that kind of speed. [ laughter ] rob is up next with sports. >> talking baseball. the mets and yankees trying to get wins under their belts. we've got highlights from the two games. mets have been hitting homers in philadelphia like they're going out of style. they're still going out. but first, the islanders on home

when local hockey teams are in the playoffs, you start sports with hockey. >> a big game in the series tonight.

nights feels a lot better when you win two of them. that's what the islanders did to start the stanley cup playoffs against florida. the isles haven't won a playoff series in 23 years. this game is at home. florida jumped ahead. the isles get the equalizer before the end of the 2nd period. john tavares has been huge. about midway through the 3rd, alex petrovic wins it. back to florida friday. let's get you to rinkside. laura behnke is live. >> the isles knew this wasn't going to be easy but they know they let a great opportunity to take control of this series slip away tonight. >> we didn't have a great start. we didn't make it hard enough on them tonight and we had a great opportunity to get the result. >> it stinks. it's one you wanted to win.

going back to their building. but it's over now. we regroup and get ready for a good one in florida. >> frustrated, yes. but time to dwell, no. game 5 in florida. boychuk said this is now a best of three series. we're live at barclays center, laura behnke, channel 7 eyewitness news. now we get to the mets. 10 home runs the last two games. they don't want to put philadelphia in the rearview mirror but they have to. this was the final game of the series. the mets try for the sweep. for the first time ever, the mets hit back-to-back home runs for a third straight game. it's been unreal. that's yoenis cespedes. then lucas duda, 19 home runs the last six games. their biggest output ever in six games but this time the phils come back, 7th inning, run scoring single. that ties the game at 4. extra innings. not only do the mets hit homers in philly, they also strike out 17 in this game. 4-4, 11th inning, runners on 2nd and 3rd for the phils. david wright's throw will get

the mets lose this one. now let's get to the yankees. we're going to get to the yankees now. yankees against the as out at the stadium in the bronx. a lot of trouble scoring runs. they started out just fine tonight. dd gregorius goes deep. 2nd inning, yanks have the lead. everything looking good. but the as score three runs in the 4th inning. reddick hits here. calhoun, the runner. brian mccann can't get a handle on the ball. as kept hitting. yanks did not. they go down 5-2. they play again tomorrow. they're still looking for runs. finally from us, dwayne pearl washington died today after battling cancer. he took his basketball game from the playground to the gym and eventually syracuse university. drafted by the nets but he'll be remembered for his city roots and college game. pearl washington dead tonight at the age of 52.