a pricey mistake in times square. 4 investigates uncovers cracks that you won't pay for. fire tears you this a strip ofow out. the trouble crews ran into when they first arrived. >> and extreme heat about to take over the tri-state once again. when you're going to feel it. news4 new york at 5:00 starts now. a major flaw in a multimillion-dollar project in times square. good evening, everyone. i'm david ushery. >> newly laid stones cracking and guess what, you're going to foot the $500,000 bill to fix this.

>> there might be some kind of problems but we want to show you what it looks like. these the new pedestrian plazas between 47th street and 42nd street. there are supposed to be wide spaces for people to walk but they're replacing some of the stone that's were brand new. the reason? many of them developed significant cracks. they are heavy heck tang lar stones designed in the new pedestrian plaza in times square. 4 investigates has uncovered more than a few cracks in the $50 million project. >> from our point of view, it is good that it is being addressed. >> tim tomkins showed 4 investigates where the problem has popped up on. a stretch of stones between 47th and 42nd streets. the mortar seal underneath the stones turned out to be too sensitive to vibrations from

>> it is not easy to do a major construction project in the middle of times square. >> they have to redo it. >> correct. >> jim dodd usually avoids the chaotic cross roads. he was dismayed to see workers chopping up brand new stones today just to make room for a half a million dollars worth of replacements. >> they have to be more careful and make sure they have the sealant down below that will take care of the vibrations. >> they're spending a lot of money. they're always doing somethin fix it. along the period of time. >> but city officials said they always knew the project could encount customer bumps along the way and businesses say three out of four new yorkers supported making the plazas permanent. as for the glitches? >> we're confident that will be taken care of by the time the project is done. if some pop up in the future, the city will take care of that too. >> meanwhile, tourist who's make times square their home base seem to have no complaints.

i've been snap chatting the whole time i'm here. i'm really, really loving it. >> reporter: back now, the timetable to finish the plazas which are made as a european plaza. the timetable is new years eve. a lot of this is covered by the overall $50 million budget. unclear if there will be cost overruns. in the end, the taxpayers pay for it. through a strip of row houses. this video you see taken by chopper 4 as it was happening. tonight several families have been forced out of their homes. at the scene in woodlawn. wale? >> reporter: the fire started around 12:30. the firefighters put it out a couple hours ago. you see them going in and out of the gray house. they stay fire spread to both the right and the left.

houses and displacing dozens of residents. flames that started in the back of one home. spread to four other buildings, chopper 4 over the scene in the bronx. two hundred firefighters working to douse the fire. dozens of residents displaced but not hurt. >> i give everything to god. i feel like when the doors close or a building is burned down. he will put us in something better. >> three firefighters were taken to the hospital to get checked out. >> two of the firefighters are relatively minor. one fig than the others. i can't comment on the nature of the injuries. at this time. >> from above we saw hoses snake down the street and around the corner. firefighters say they originally had a defective hydrant but quickly fixed the problem. >> we have 90,000 hide ranlts in the city. are we inspecting twice a year? and sometimes they break and you know, we do have contingencies.

that we take that into account. and we did it this far the fire chief said he doesn't believe the closer hydrant would have made a difference in this case. those families hope the red cross can make a difference for them. >> it takes time when something like this happens. and they took all our names, phone numbers and where we lived and they say they will assist us as soon as they can get had and make a full assessment. to give us hotel for a couple of days, money working to figure out because of the fire. and i asked the fire chief, if this weather, it is very hot out there. if this weather had any impact on those three firefighters taken to the hospital. they said that was a factor. for now, the very latest in the bronx. >> we'll talk more about the weather here. the trms about to soar once again in the tri-state area. we're talking about that uncomfortable oppressive heat and humidity.

>> we have to start getting ready now. tomorrow heat advisory goes into effect for the five burroughs. the heat, the humidity and the temperatures will combine. it will be close to dangerously uncomfortable. this will continue until at least thursday evening. it may extend long entire the weekend. the temperatures aren't that bad. low to mid to upper 80s. water temperature off the jersey shore. this is aea much moisture is in the atmosphere. these numbers are indicative of that. and it is right around 60, it is nice. or lower. you can see upper 50s to near 60s. once it gets to near 70 it starts to feel very uncomfortable and sticky. that's not the case. it feels like temperatures are pretty comfortable. look what's happening over the central portion of the country. it feels like above 100. even miami at this hour and that's the way it will feel

like it is 100 degrees most of the week. i'll talk more about that in the storm-team 4 forecast. >> all right. thanks so much. track heat with our nbc 4 app. the haste temperatures, interactive radar and any weather alerts you need to know about. >> the candlelight vigil will be held in massachusetts to remember vanessa, a new york city woman killed while visiting her mother in the small town of princeton. the 27-year-old google employee went out for a run the body was found hours later about a half mile from her mother's home in the woods. police are not sure if she was targeted or a random attack but the autopsy has been completed. they're waiting on more tests though. howard beach, looking for choose in the murder of karina vet vetrano. she was reported missing after she never returned home from a jog.

to protect themselves. >> reporter: yeah. and it's been one week now and the police presence here at the crime scene is still very strong. you can check it out behind me. the killer is still out this. for people who jog regularly, like karina did, well, they're on edge. phil vatrano is at the scene of his daughter's today. they d while on a jog last week and that uncertainty in this case has shaken joggers around the city. >> i think a lot of people are really frightened. the thing is that this has always been going. on it is just a matter of being aware and traveling in numbers. >> it has led. led many to wonder what they can do. the single most important thing do you know is just to be aware.

you're doing. it is kind of easy to get distracted. you're listening to music, you're not paying attention. it is easy for these types of things to occur. >> if someone does grab you, scream, of course, or use an air horn or place. sal said you fight as loud as you can the minute you've been be attacked. that led to this. the knife bra. a sports bra with a special pocket designed to hold a small knife or a can of the woman who came up with it told us, she's lots of interest here in new york since the murder. >> we started getting phone calls from mother who's were thanking me for creating a product. they want to put on it, looking for reinsurance. >> experts caution, carrying a knife is dangerous if you don't have consistent training how to use it during an attack.

you stand a chance. whether you have a knife or not. >> and in fact attacker could take the knife and use it against you. experts also say, self-defense classes can be useful but only if you take them and practice on a regular basis. the best thing you can do is prevent it from happening in the first place by staying alert. reporting live from howard beach. ida siegal, new york. the campaign trail after donald trump suggested during a rally today that second amendment activists could go after hillary clinton if she tried on roll back gun rights. take a listen. >> if she gets on pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. although the second amendment people, maybe there is. >> clinton campaign called

that a candidate should not suggest violence in any way. >> he said gun rights activists should not vote for clinton. earlier today, hillary clinton urged congress to reconvene and pass emergency zika funding. clinton made the comments at a health care in miami where 21 nontravel cases of the virus have caused a lot of concern. a vice presidential candidate has said that he would return to washington for a vote on zika funding. >> a trump statue vandalized replaced. this got a lot of attention when it happened over the weekend. jen has new details. >> reporter: the artist is putting if finishing touches on the 16-foot tee. it was raised earlier today. this is actually the second t. the first one was burned down two days ago by an arsonist that police say got away. a crowd of trump supporters

raised on their neighbor's lawn. >> it is horrible. despicable. i don't know had a this world is coming to. it is disgusting. >> this is is tekd t to go up on sam's front lawn. vandals lit the first one on fire while the family elementary school inside. the nypd is looking. >> you are not going to scare me size of the first one. the artist said he and sam got a phone call yesterday afternoon from donald trump himself. >> i said, don't worry, donald, i'm going to make another one tomorrow. i will up vail it. it will be bigger. it will be uge. >> sam said the t isn't just for trump. it is for tolerance for all political views. he said people don't have to agree with him but he and other

burned down, i wouldn't like that. if you don't like the t, put up an h. >> there were hillary clinton supporters this afternoon. they don't support trump but they do support his right to put up this sign in peace. john does have a large support here. he got 85% of the primary vote you can and tell he has a lot of support because there pass this very large t that is now up here for the second time. on staten island, news4 new york. >> thank you. we have been telling you for the past week about a man making threats over a new york city police radio. it appears another bogus call came in causing officers to act and act quickly. >> officer down. officer down. 56-12. officer down.

in sunset park, brooklyn, in full forceful they had a suspicion the call might be fake. as witnesses explained, they were taking no chances. >> he said can you let me in? open up the door. 25 cop cars here. 25. they are running up the stairs. running up. climbing up fire escapes. jumping from roof to roof. come back down. not a thing. there they're all standing looking up at the roof. >> the first calls came in radio and threatened a sergeant who he says put him in jail. police have not said if they believe this is the same man. still ahead, your safety in city parks. first 4 investigates reveals that crime is spiking. now why certain areas are getting better support than others. >> summer carnivals in the wake of several accidents involving

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?? tonight is the night for the u.s. gymnastics team. one of our very own could be bringing home a medal back to new jersey. >> and our very own bruce beck is in rio to bring us all the action. how is it going? >> reporter: it is going great. tonight, amico phelps and katie ledecky go for the gold. what else is new? the five women going for the gold in team gymnastics. they h a tonight. the action is already underway here in rio. simone biles is the superstar. but 16-year-old laurie hernandez from new jersey is the dynamo. we spoke to her mom a short time ago. >> for her to be able to follow the path of other leaders that have opened doors for her. and we have john orozco, a

so for laurie to follow in those footsteps. it's incredible. what a journey. >> reporter: the tickets for this event the toughest of the game so far and there were plenty of fans from the united states who scored big. >> we got tickets. >> those tickets are worth a lot, you know. >> we know that. >> reporter: what do you expect from the women? >> we expect to see a great show from simone and allie and them. >> i found a few people from the tri-state area who a enough to get into the olympic arena for the big show. >> super excited. she's amazing. >> we're so pumped. we think u.s. women will dominate. >> so exciting. the girls are out of this world. to see them live is amazing. >> are you thinking gold? >> absolutely. >> are you thinking style? >> total style. >> are you thinking class? >> class and perfection. >> how good are these girls? >> unbeatable. without a doubt.

hands down. >> reporter: the fierce five won gold had london in 2012. they look for back to back gold medals tonight and they really need a new nickname. because this team is more than fierce. this team is fantastic. hive in rio, i'm bruce beck, news4, new york. can you imagine having a daughter in this competition tonight? well then again, among the three of us, sons. >> good point. >> all right, bruce. thanks so much. and here's a look at your updated medal count. the united states is still on top with 21 medals, including five gold. china has the most gold medals with 7 but only 15 medals total. they're followed by japan and russia. >> the highlights include the

events and michael phelps tonight. read up on that and much more. all post now. >> we're in the spirit. i wish we could give it a gold, the weather today, but it will look more like a bronze? >> a melting bronze. >> we'll make a new statue out of it. we're in the mup 80s. close to 90 at had a guard the humidity will start climbing. the heat will build throughout the week and some downpour there's come our way it will be middle of the summertime, type of weather. more humid overnight. you may need your umbrellas tomorrow. it's not that bad now.

generally low to mid 80s. poughkeepsie, you're the warm spot. 82 in long branch. so the relative humidity is still at a comfortable level. generally between thrive and 45%. when it starts to chime into the 55 to 65% range, it will continue into the weekend. that's when it feels stifling. the heat index starting just spinning along the gulf coast. they've had 10 to 12 inches of rain here and those spokes of moisture are starting to move north in our direction. we can use the rain. we're still in a moderate to severe drought. this could be a shower or a thunderstorm in the morning. in spots. they will pop up at random tomorrow during the afternoon.

spots. you'll notice them. and again on thursday. we're not done with this pattern. it will continue. here's our ten day forecast. the heat continues, the humidity continues. starting tomorrow and continuing into the weekend. the worst of the heat will be this weekend into the 90s. guys, back to you. >> thanks so much. still ahead, a new zika related death. >> and some say this would turn the hudson river into a parking

a baby had birth defects including micro sevenly and died shortly after being born. her mother traveled to elf salvador which is likely where she became infected with zika virus. this is the first

tonight, growing safety kernels across the united states after three children were hurt and another killed, all in spread accidents. right now, looking into what caused three children to fall from a ferris wheel in tennessee. one of the girls may have suffered a traumatic brain injury. that came after a 10-year-old boy in kansas. a local man claims his trump t-shirt caused another man to attack with a crowbar. a story that doesn't add up. also, keep your guard up. 4 investigates exposed the staggering lives and crime. why some places are better

parks. 4 investigates digs deeper, why some parks are becoming dangerous and what's being done to keep new yorkers safe. >> last night we told you while overall crime is down, there has been a 23% spike in violent crime at other parks across the city. we found out the problem is law enforcement or lack there of. tonight, 4 investigates why.