eyewitness news reporter stacey sager is in the town of freeport. stacy? >> reporter: it's a soaking rain and a stiff wind out here right now now. making it kind of raw, but good news is the street flooding, people are so accustomed to, has subsided for now. residence around here know all too well that if the storm picks up later, this block in particular known as south ocean avenue, could live up to its name. >> it's hard. it's hard. we love it here. >> reporter: hard to love a day like this with pounding rain and puddles growing with the tide. freeport residents who have sandy in the back of their minds feeling like they dodged a bullet this time time, nevertheless -- >> nervous. nervous to say the least. we've been through it. it's just a nor'easter. we don't know what it is. we're just hoping that, i think around midnight is high tide again. we've got to get our cars out >> reporter: just east of here at robert moses beach, public officials gathered today, also fully aware things could've been much worse. but fire island remains a very big concern, pos

here's "eyewitness news" reporter stacey sager. >> with nearly 40% of the residents here living below the poverty level, it's not terribly surprising that new york city's health department ranks brownsville the most unhealthy community in brooklyn. question is, will the city's new study make a difference? >> all of this is something that we can change. >> but talk to people in this community and you get one message loud and clear -- we are what we eat, and healthier food is expensive. >> i just spent $400, and i don't even see on what. >> $400? >> yes. >> in these two wagons? >> that's it. >> my sugar is going through the roof, and my blood pressure's going through the roof. if you go into stores, most of their food is processed. >> there are many other factors the city looked at, everything from air quality to the accessibility of good healthcare. and in brownsville, for example, new hiv diagnoses are more than double the overall rates for brooklyn and the city. and hospitalization for substance abuse, also more than double the brooklyn and citywide rates. >> bad health is as contagi

. >> reporter stacey sager has more. >> if he could trade places with her, he would. >> reporter: the attorney for come forward after a devastating hit and run more than a week ago. he left a 22-year-old senior at montclair state university in critical condition. she had massive internal injuries here in st. joseph's medical center in patterson, where friends and family have not left her side. but they were left begging for answers on eyewitness news last sunday. >> my baby sister is in such critical condition. please come forward. >> saw this in the news. he realized he was involved in this. he's felt horrible ever since. >> reporter: he tells his lawyer he had just pulled out of this mcdonald's parking lot thursday night of last week. he was on his way overnight job. that's when he realized he hit something. >> he knew that he hit something. absolutely. he looked backwards, didn't see anything on the roadway, he continued on, he panicked. >> was he drinking? >> absolutely not. family put the story of their a witness came forward saying the driver had a dark pickup truck. he has a da

stacey sager has reaction from family and friends. david novarro with the suspect's criminal background. we'll begin with josh einiger at the precinct in harlem. >> this is the psa station house where officer holder reported every day for work for the last five years. it's this station house that's become a shrine in his memory. an in front of the psa station house. in just a few minutes, starting at the scene where he died, a march will begin. that's a few blocks away from here. a march that will end up right here at psa 5. as they memorialize an officer gone far too soon. >> reporter: barely a day later and the blurry haze of last night's chaos is coming in to chilling focus. as new york's finest started to mourn for their fourth brother cop murdered in the line of duty in less than a year -- >> i do know someone like this shouldn't have been on the streets. >> reporter: the mayor expressed anger at the alleged cop killer investigators say caused such pain. last night just after dark the mayhem started in moments. >> hispanic male,

stacey sager at the home redux. she's in the rockaways. >> there were holes in my walls. >> reporter: an emotional far rockaway resident describes to new york city's first lady all there was to deal with when superstorm sandy overtook their homes nearly three years ago. homes were gutted. no heat. no hot water. >> we had people looting and were taking my stuff. >> she also had no flood insurance. like many around the build it back program but she and 500 others would benefit from private money. >> reporter: more than $19 million of it, thanks to the red cross, the robin hood foundation, jpmorgan chase, and the mayor's fund. >> i appreciate the doors that have been open to me. they didn't have to be. >> we have a lot of happy people. this is a good story. >> reporter: this particular funding program has reached its end now. next door to her, rodgers happily waters her front yard. but the memories of the floodwaters remain when she looks at all the vacant lots in her neighborhood. here's her message for the mayor. >>

stacey sager, channel 7 eyewitness news. >> let's hope so. you can keep an eye on tomorrow's storm and also on hurricane joaquin on abc 7 ny as well as all of our apps for your smart phone and tablets. lee is going to be back with forecast coming up in just a bit. >>> a church in new jersey had just celebrated pope francis' visit. then thieves struck. coming up, what they did inside the church causing major damage. >> why wedding favors created i'm bobby flay and new york is my home. there's no place like it in the world. come fall, i like to get a taste of everything the state has to offer. like this famous winery nestled in the hudson valley. or the award-winning vineyards of long island. this cooperstown brewery belongs in every beer lover's hall of fame. you can even try new york's exceptional cider and spirits. this fall, drink in the beauty of new york state. plan your trip at iloveny.com. there's something for everyone. okay. so everyone is saying, "hey! you gotta get fios!" but why? why fios? well fios is a 100 percent fiber optic net

stacey sager is there. stacey? >> reporter: well, you know, sade, they don't call this new york's biggest block party for nothing. more than 50,000 runners are expected here in central park this sunday. hopefully all of them make it here to the finish line. planners -- the planners have certainly hit the ground running. it is a colorful start to the weekend marathon festivities. the ceremonial painting of the line at the finish in central park where spike lee, a true new yorker is going to do the right thing as grand marshal. >> we love new york city. >> reporter: even produced a short film to kick off the marathon broadcast. >> statue of liberty. >> reporter: but this year's tcs new york city marathon has plenty of noteables. all of the defending champions are back. men's wheelchair champ from down under among them. that is despite last year's painful conditions. >> last year the hard part was 40 miles per hour headwinds. that was uncomfortable. >> reporter: like the others, he wouldn't dream of missing it. also r

that is where eyewitness news reporter stacey sager is live this afternoon. stacey? >> reporter: well, shirleen, we are outside israel's mission to the united nations on the east side where a rally is set to get going. it's a rally demanding an end to the uptick in violence, the stabbings and car rammings that they say are random, especially this week. it has been the worst surge of months. within the past month, eight israelis killed in palestinian attacks, most stabbings. 31 palestinians have been killed by israeli fire. attackers. the others killed in clashes israeli troops. beyond the troubling numbers, there are questions about whether rhetoric and social media are insiting the violence. israel is cracking down with security measures. here at home, new york city's mayor is getting set to make a trip to israel tomorrow where he will visit a jerusalem school with palestinian and israeli children. political atmosphere is tricky at best to navigate. back live now. organizers of this rally told me they are generally supportive of the mayor's trip to israel. they say

eyewitness news reporter stacey sager is live in central park with more p. stacey? >> reporter: hey, shirleen, the stage is set and security plan is in place. come sunday, more than 50,000 of them will be here. so will mr. spike lee, the grand marshal of the marathon f first grand marshal from new york city. the ceremonial painting of the lines as the official kick off tamara on this weekend begins. the tcs new york city marathon, a celebration this weekend on abc 7 which will not disappoint. all four of the champions from last year's marathon are ready to roll this year as well as other noteables including retired tennis pro james blake recently in the news after the nypd mistakenly arrested him with a tackle. blake is running on behalf of his cancer foundation. also running as the marathon's straight is dave she will speak the -- sing the national anthem before running and spike lee produced and directed a love letter to his favorite city which will start the broadcast on sunday. >> a great honor. we all know new york city is the greatest city on the planet. >> re

. -- eyewitness news reporter stacey sager with the story. >> they've remained out this building for hours because they've yet to locate this 2-year-old girl. they say this all started just before 11:30 this morning here on bronx park east. the number is 2320 bronx park east. the apartment where a 2-year-old was staying with her 42-year-old grandmother because her 22-year-old mother does not have custody. police tell me at some point the girl's mother shows up. there's an argument between mother and grandmother. that is when police say the mother grabs her toddler. they say she gets in to a dark colored sedan and leaves. and no one has seen the child since. police are obviously very concerned about this child's well-being. there are some unknowns here. we do not know what they were fighting about. police are asking this mother to come forward with her 2-year-old child. we'll bring you an update as we get it. live in the bronxdale section of the bronx, stacey sager, channel 7 eyewitness news. >>> a rally getting underway to call for police reform in the wake of eric garner's death. ac

. >> eyewitness news reporter, stacey sager outside the hospital in paterson with the story. >> reporter: you know, dave, they say someone must have answers. 22-year-old anna semioli was the victim of a hit-and-run in clifton. her family is begging for help. >> my baby sister is in such critical condition. please come forward and say something. >> reporter: a desperate, and exasperated family, keeping vigil here at st. joseph's paterson, praying that anna semioli will pull through. >> there was 11 911 calls reporting they had seen a body on the side of the road. >> no one saying a description of a car. >> nothing like that. nothing. we're so desperate to find out who, why, what, what happened. >> reporter: police told the family anna's injuries are consistent with a hit and run, but all her sister knows is what anna said in her last phone call thursday night. that she was going to visit friends at her school, montclair state university. but no one has heard a word sense. >> all of those people that were in there. not a single one was one of the people she was visiting that night. >> no o

stacey sager is in long island, anthony johnson is in new jersey. we're going to be broadcasting to you and bringing you the pictures all morning long. behind me just getting the banners up, testing the microphones, there's a lot of live music. it's become a great tradition for eyewitness news. 39 degrees right now in central park. that's where we begin. we're also going to look for a few clouds, a mixed sky really as we get this day underway. temperatures fell fast last night. wow. going to the freezing point in a lot of locations, temperatures have been below normal. if we look at the climate history, 63 is the normal high, 49 is the low. we're below those marks significantly, 10 to 15 degrees below those averages. we also have another freeze warning setting us up for tonight through monday. into the growing season at times to pull out the layers make sure you're ready. now we're going to go from the sub freezing temperatures in the 20s to the potential for 70s down the stretch. looking at radar and satellite, the main concern is good news, little

we're live in downtown brooklyn, i'm stacey sager. channel 7 eyewitness news. >>> thank you. new information a vehicle description in a hit and run that left a woman badly hurt on the side of a new jersey road. police in clifton are looking for a dark colored pickup truck, possibly a ford f-150 that may have front end damage. anna semioli was found in just after midnight. her family is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. >>> today friends and family in westchester county will gather to say good-bye to baseball prospect michael nolan. the 23-year-old died last friday three weeks after he was shot in the parking lot of a yonkers fast food restaurant. police are now offering a $5000 reward for information leading to an arrest. nolan's wake will take place in yankers at 2:00 this -- yonkers at 2:00 this everyone afternoon. >>> a major lawsuit stems from a jury's decision to hold a gun shop liable for the sale of weapons used to shoot police officers. marci gonzalez here with more. >> reporter: this gun store, the owners get to appeal, but for now many

. >> it happened last night where stacey sager is right now with the rest of the story. stacy? >> reporter: here's what we know about the suspects in this case. one of them, 22-year-old kaye sean smith was on parole for a gun violation. the other two were picked up this morning right here in the neighborhood. the real question is why did they start shooting and did they know they were shooting at cops? what we now know is that three officers were in this unmarked vehicle for a reason last night. >> two weeks ago, there was a triple homicide in that development. we're still actively investigating that case. >> reporter: it wasn't long before the bullets were flying here on park and north portland in fort greene. police say the lieutenant and two officers in plain clothes came around this block when suddenly one suspect, kayshon smith, carrying this handgun, fired at least seven times. >> returned fire at mr. smith, striking him in the leg. additionally, when that was happening we had another and arrested. we believe four rounds from a 10-millimeter gun, but we do not have it in

stacey sager has more from one brooklyn community that seems to be fairing the worst. the residents here living below the poverty level, it's not terribly surprising new york city's health department ranks brownsville the most unhealthy community in brooklyn. question is will the city's new study make a difference? >> all of this is something we can change. >> reporter: but talk to people in this community and you get one message loud and clear. >> we are what we eat. and healthier food is expensive. >> i just spent $400. >> these two wagons? >> that's it. >> my sugar is going through the roof and my blood pressure you go in the school, most of the food is processed. >> reporter: there are many other factors the city looked at, everything from air quality to the accessibility of good healthcare and in browns ville, for example, new hiv diagnoses are more than double the overall rates for brooklyn and the city. and hospitalization for substance abuse also more than >> bad health is as contagious as a cold. you could independently be healthy as an individual but if you'r

we're live outside police headquarters in minneola, i'm stacey sager channel 7 >>> thank you. new information about the woman found dead in a queens park. she is identified as 28-year- old qing qing kiemde. puncture wounds on her body. she was found over the weekend. police are looking for her estranged husband. >>> rapper flavor flav pleaded guilty on long island to aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle. the 55-year-old was sentenced to time served by a judge in minneola this morning. flav spent just one day in state police custody. he was also ordered to pay $3500 for court fees. flavor flav was arrested on the way to his mother's funeral in january of 2014. >>> now to the new details about what caused that malaysia airliner that crashed in ukraine last year. investigators now believe a russian made mist sill brought down malaysia airlines flight 17 killing nearly 300 people on board. elizabeth hur has the story. >> reporter: lori and shirleen good afternoon to you. stated last year this plane was likely hit by multiple high energy objects. new today in their final re

we're live, stacey sager, channel 7 eyewitness news. >>> stay with us as we count down to game 1 of the world series. starts right now. >>> long lines filled with new yorkers and officers from around the country. one person not showing up tomorrow, reverend al sharpton, now declining the holder family invitation to speak and attend the officer's funeral. the man accused of shooting and killing holder has just been indicted. the feds step up their investigation in to the chief. >>> we're in kansas city tonight as the mets hope to win their first series in 25 years. good evening at 6:00. i'm bill ritter. >> i'm liz cho. matt harvey for game 1 in the best of seven series. >> world series logos for the first time ever at this ballpark painted on the field for game 3 friday night. singing the

eyewitness news stacey sager was at the walk in jones beach. >> talk to anyone in this crowd, and the first thing they'll tell you when you have breast cancer, time matters most. every bit of it. >> survivor five and a half years, i had ivc inflammatory breast cancer. >> 12 years this past february. >> i was diagnosed when i was 27. it was three months before my wedding. >> and so they take the time in this weekend's freezing cold weather to come here to jones beach, 65,000 of them for the american cancer society's making strides against breast cancer walk. many have already come through the struggle and are thriving. >> and i'm now 65 and retired, and i am living the life. >> others taking it day by day and doing more than many could do for the cause in a lifetime. >> i can't even believe it you >> and how much have you raised this year. >> about 30,000 this year, $30,000. >> and it feels like family on a mission. >> we're the second largest funder of cancer research behind only the federal government. so your money is going towards research and services to help those in need. >> but

stacey sager is at jones beach out on long island. anthony johnson is at the prudential center in newark, and sade baderinwa is in central park as well as amy freeze where amy's been all morning. good morning sade. >> reporter: good morning. how are you guys? >> we are great. how is it out there? >> reporter: you know, it is so great. it is like a family out here. you know, i've been doing this walk for almost 12 years now, and each time it just gets better and better. i want to bring in somebody here who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, actually >> yes. >> emma when were you diagnosed with breast cancer? >> i was diagnosed in 1995. >> okay so it's been a while. you know you're a who are your warrior. what does today mean to you? >> it means i am among the living and i kicked cancer's butt. >> and that's the message today is to provide a sense of hope for others who are going through it. >> absolutely. nowadays cancer is not a death sentence. you just have to believe, smile and just kick it out. >> you know t is so wonderful

stacey sager, channel 7 eyewitness news. >> thank you stacy. right now as we said, authority shut down the middletown tunnel. let's go to shannon sohn in news copter 7 over the scene. >> reporter: yeah, and you can see the ambulances now moving east along the l.i.e., and they're pretty much taking over that left lane. i think we have pictures that we can show you from a few minutes ago that when it left the medical examiner's office on the east side and went through the queens midtown tunnel, there was a line of blue, officers saluting the ambulance as it passed through. you need to know as you come through this area, they are traveling east on the l.i.e. we are being told that they are going to go to the eastbound grand central and then down the van wyck. at any point if you are trying to get on any of those roadways as this motorcade comes through, they are likely to shut it down. they completely shut down the queens midtown tunnel in both directions and we've been watching them shut down entrance ramps to the l.i.e. so they can get a clear s

in mineola, stacey sager, channel 7 eyewitness news. >>> also on long island a chaotic scene as a runaway truck crashes in to a dry cleaning business. the truck smashed in to the building on lincoln avenue in roslyn heights. the driver said he forgot to put the emergency brake on when he left the truck parked on a hilly street. one worker inside the shop was injured by flying glass. the building was also badly damaged. >>> just ahead on eyewitness news, planning to do a lot of online shopping for the holidays? how you could save money if you have to make returns. >> lee returns with much more of your mets game time >>> paypal is giving its u.s. customers a holiday gift. the company is sure they will love it. paypal says it will help pay the return shipping costs, up to $30 for its customers. there's a catch, however. paypal will only cover up to four returns through january 31st of next year. the company offered a similar service in nearly 40 other countries before rolling it out here in the u.s. here in the u.s.? >>> meanwhile, i know you're timing out a little bit of rain. >> not dodger

he had checked himself in to an area hospital with a gunshot stacey sager, channel 7 eyewitness news. >>> a new york celebrity chef distributing child pornography. it's a case that includes allegations he had sex with a minor and then shared the encounter online. matthew tivy who owns an eatery in manhattan was arrested in may for sexual abuse of a minor. after examining tivy's cell phone, investigators discovered the pictures. >>> we're going to turn to the developing story in connecticut. police say they have found the car used in an attempted kidnapping of a teenage girl in bridgeport. the girl escaped. you can see by jumping out of a moving vehicle. right now they're still looking for the woman whose driving that car. tim fleischer is here with the very latest. >> police are certain that the driver and the teenager never met, didn't even know each other. as for a possible motive, that remains unclear but one thing for certain tonight, police do know who they're looking for. >> reporter: the shocking video. a 17-year-old girl making a desperate escape bridgeport police say, tumblin

stacey sager takes a closer look at the department's policy for chases like this one. stacey? >> reporter: well, sade, this what we know is that a police pursuit like this one is supposed to be approved by a field supervisor. suffolk police have yet to say if that was the case. what they have said is the woman they stopped this morning definitely put an officer's life in jeopardy. it was 2:40 this morning on the northern state parkway in dix hills and two drivers were killed when their vehicles collided. one of them completely innocent, the other a female suspect trying to avoid police and driving westbound in the eastbound lanes. at a brief news conference in which suffolk police took no questions, they took reporters it started with a traffic stop in central islip. a female driver under suspicion for dwi and having a stolen vehicle. >> the suspect refused to comply. she got in to the driver's seat of that vehicle and fled from >> reporter: police policy in suffolk county clearly states, quote, officers shall not pursue suspects the wrong way on interstates or other controlle

stacey sager is in the news room with more on where the blimp went down. >> the blimp is down in central pennsylvania right now. no one was hurt but nearly 20,000 people lost power there this afternoon. the aircraft, which is used for military surveillance, has cost our government more than $2 billion. and critics are already saying that's just way too pricey for a four-hour mishap such as this. >> it was like nothing we had ever seen before. >> reporter: high school student fisher taking this video in bloomsburg, pennsylvania, right after the power went out in his shop class this afternoon, and he thinks this norad blimp right outside was to blame. >> the lights started flickering until they completely shut off. we were confused, just walking around, didn't know what was going on. i think outside to watch it. i was just in our section of the school. >> what we know is the unmanned defense blimp called jalens broke free from its moorings in maryland around 12:30 today. nearly four hours later a norad spokesman tells abc news the blimp is down. but throughout the afternoon, two f16 fighte

stacey sager, channel 7 eyewitness news. >> just heart-breaking, stacey, thank you. >>> from the bronx to manhattan, a dramatic rescue on a busy street. a man tumbling through a sidewalk cellar door before 3:00 this afternoon outside of mcdonald's on 5th avenue, 34th street in midtown. witnesses say a pedestrian fell unaware that the door was open. several people that saw the accident jumped in to rescue the man. >> when i went down there, i i grabbed napkins as soon as possible and started applying pressure on his face. i told him to lean back. he was shocked. he wasn't in his right state of mind. >> shocked because he suffered a large gash to his head. he is being treated at bellevue hospital. >>> now to a deadly rampage in new jersey. he is accused of stabbing to death his elderly mother and brother. now keith knight is under arrest and charged with murder. cops say when they found him at the crime scene in teaneck, there appeared to be blood on his hands. anthony johnson is there. >> reporter: i had an opportunity earlier today to speak to one of the family members of the suspect a

. >> reporter: that's our own stacey sager who survived cancer on abc 7. and so saved the lives of others. >> i know if stacey hadn't have been brave enough to document her journey, i wouldn't have learned about the test and done it myself. >> reporter: their tale is but one of almost a dozen told here, without exception they are moving. >> i'm not worried. you don't be worried. >> reporter: we watch as kelly roth becomes the youngest person ever to have both her breasts removed upon learning she is carrying the braca mutation. >> i'm choosing to have a prophylactic bilateral mastectomy at 20 years old because i feel there's a bomb attached to my body and tomorrow that bomb will be dismantled. >> reporter: the way it reverberates down through the generations made me recall my lindy kenyon lived a long life. but watching pink and blue helped me put her death in to perspective. >> a personal story for a lot of us. that was sandy kenyon reporting. >>> a major clue turns up in the investigation in to the shooting death of new york city police officer randolph h

stacey sager is there with the latest. >> reporter: bill, an awful, awful story. what we know is that neighbors saw this coming but they couldn't do anything about it. they heard the 27-year-old mother of this baby screaming, screaming about the devil, screaming about how the world would end and then the unthinkable threatening to toss her baby out of a window. it was a window of a sixth floor apartment in the building here behind me. it is sadly not the first time in recent weeks that police raced here to the bronx after a young woman tossed her baby out of a window. at 2200 teibot avenue, the

stacey sager online island. we begin with lee goldberg outside our studios. >> missing that september son a week ago, 76 and sunny. now we've got nor'easter like conditions. it is wrong outside right now. let's look at a picture in central park.

eyewitness news reporter stacey sager spoke to the worker. we will hear from him tonight on eyewitness news at 5. >>> right now a college campus in texas is on lockdown after one person was killed and another injured at a student housing complex. this is all happening on the campus of texas southern university in houston. police have not yet said whether the victims were students. this, however, is the second deadly shooting on a college campus in less than 12 hours at northern arizona university. all this comes as president obama arrives in oregon to meet with the victims and families of last week's deadly shooting at a community college there. bazi kanani has more. >> as president obama arrives white house says he will be solely focused on the traumatized survivors and grieving families he is there to meet privately. those mourning the nine killed in last week's massacre at a community college but just hours before his trip. >> multiple people possibly shot and an emergency call at another college campus, one dead, three others wounded at a

i'm stacey sager, channel 7 eyewitness news. >>> in westchester county, a band teacher in north town heights is now facing child sex charges. police arrested 45-year-old jeffrey whalen after investigators found child porn on his home computer. whalen who teaches band to 4th and 5th graders at crompond elementary had no comment when eyewitness news knocked on his door. however his neighbors have plenty to say after hearing the shocking news. >> he's a neighbor, a very, you know, quiet to themselves and, you know, it's as you say a quiet community here. >> and this is the last thing you suspected? >> last thing. >> the school's district superintendent says whalen is now on administrative leave. >>> new information in the fight to annex more land into an enclave in hudson valley new york. the issue will be put to a vote. the board has scheduled a referendum for november 9th. for voters in a 164-acre section of town. despite protests of residents of monroe, the boards of two municipalities approved the annexation last month. two lawsuits are trying to overturn the decision. the enclave s