stacey sager reports. << (cathy dunn, staten island university hospital) "so when we put super sam on your iv, his superpowers come into you and make you all better." sure sounds good to 6- year-old erik carmona of willowbrook, who just had his appendix removed here at northwell health's staten island university hospital. (erik carmona, 6-year-old patient) "it hurts over here, over here." but things can change when suddenly you got "superpower status." (erik carmona, 6-year-old patient) "this one looks like superman." actually it is super sam, one of 10 i-v "heroes" created by molloy college junior bobby lenahan here in rockville centre. (bobby lenahan, created superhero iv bags) "and it is a simple paper sleeve that transforms the hospital room into an opportunity to get superpowers." like shadow control to hide if (bobby lenahan, created superhero iv bags) "impervious to anything, she can turn her skin into diamond, make the kids feel strong." especially if they're more seriously ill than erik. he's the ninth pediatric patient to try i-v heroes at this hospital. the others all had c

stacey sager is in long beach this evening where she's been. the last time we saw you, stacey, you were on top of your own personal mountain. >> reporter: absolutely, we were. excuse us. sorry. a little company out here. they're not heeding the travel ban. as we said we're out here in west park avenue and long beach. that's what i was standing on before, the snow drifts from the snowplows. there's been tons of snowplows out here. in fact, there's really less snow than i thought there would be here in long beach. the wind is really the problem. of course they're concerned about the tide on the north side of the barrier island on the bay side, reynolds channel creeping up this way. we will check on that. we'll also be checking on whether motorists are heeding the travel ban on the l.i.e later this evening. if you stick with us we'll show you what those it picks up is very strong. we took pictures a short time ago that we want to show you some more pictures we took. you can see the plows that were out and about here in long beach. people are out on

live outside columbia university, i'm stacey sager, channel 7 eyewitness news. >> incredibly sad. thank you, stacey. >>> mayor de blasio today criticized governor cuomo's plans to get hundreds of millions of dollars in education and medical funding to new york city. the governor unveiled those cuts during his state of the state address yesterday. this is just the latest public battle between the two most powerful democrats in new york. political reporter dave is in the newsroom tonight with much more. david. >> my simple statement today is we will fight these cuts. >> reporter: the mayor today never blasted the governor by name but he did rip his budget, unveiled yesterday in albany. >> two items in the budget that are not fair to new york city york city that will set us back. >> reporter: those two things are a $485 million cut to city university and between 180 and 300 million to medicaid reimbursements. the mayor and governor have bickered plenty in the last few months. de blasio today though actually praised cuomo for things like a 4% boost to schools. but on those cuts he was

stacey sager is in minneola tonight to explain. >> reporter: liz, you know, it's no secret long islanders have some of the worst commutes in the whole country, and freezing cold temperatures like this they often complicate things further out here on the rails. you know, there's no backup system, and today governor cuomo said the time for that has come. >> proponents have long argued this a so-called passing lane here on the lirr can't come soon enough. all you need to do is look at the bottleneck of commuters when things don't work as they should, and that happens a lot. in fact, governor cuomo points out it happened during this morning's commute. >> 40,000 commuters were delayed by up to 20 minutes in both directions. why? because there's no alternative tract. >> so now he's proposing a billion dollars solution for 9.8 miles of track between state officials say a third track could serve 40% more commuters. >> half hourly service on the main line, truly an option for people to use, get out of their cars and use mass transit which wasn't available before. >> they say it's different from pr

stacey sager was at the grand opening for the locations in union square. >> reporter: a simple ribbon cutting, lots of media, even nypd. but no scheduled patients yet here at new york city's first legal medical marijuana dispensary. it opened here on east 14th street this morning. but if you think you can come here for the kind of marijuana you can smoke, the answer is no. there will be an oil administered under the tongue >> there will be no recreational semblance at all. no edible products. no leaf. >> reporter: in addition to the nonsmokeable rule, only 20 locations have been approved, and so far only 150 doctors have registered in the entire state. also it is not covered by medicaid or private insurance. but the folks dispensing it out of this office say right now it will cost approximately 95 cents per dose. >> the only disadvantage is we don't have insurance for it but it's really good as a medicine. >> reporter: for albert, an hiv patient, it is a step in the right direction. still -- >> it's better for me to smoke one joint and feel good and give me quality of life than me hav

eyewitness news reporter stacey sager is in bayshore with details. stacey? >> reporter: well, michelle, police out in suffolk county are looking for your help on this one. this was a hit and run. it did happen in bayshore. it was at candle wood road and new jersey avenue and it happened on christmas around 5:00 p.m. take a look at this picture. this is the man who watts killed in the hit and run, 33- year-old emanuel cruz. finished accepting money to his three small children in el salvador. he takes a cab to his mother's place on candlewood road in bayshore for christmas dinner. you see his mother pleading nor help. we just got through speaking to her. there is surveillance video. in the video, he is seen after he gets out of the cab. he then crosses candlewood and that's when a dark four-door sedan strikes him and keeps going. police are asking anyone with information to please come forward. >> we want to put the word out to body shops in the area. we believe there may be damage to the passenger front side of the vehicle after examining the video of the hit

that's where eyewitness news reporter stacey sager is live with the details. stacey? >> reporter: well, dave, this did happen right in front of an elementary school, ps 399 in flatbush. you see it behind me on rogers avenue. we are talking about a suspect driving an old gray rusty van which he got out of and he was carrying a wooden stick. here in flatbush, police have been combing through the area. they have been looking for surveillance cameras. clear pictures that they can get in this case. they say an 11-year-old girl was at the bus stop at albermarle road around 5:40 p.m. when the suspect asks her if she needs a ride then gets out of the his car and tries to grab her. she runs back to the charter school up the block and tells authorities. word has gotten out this morning. school safety officers were watching the kids extra closely. parents are well aware this could have happened to anyone. >> i'm very concerned because they go to the bus stop by themselves and they usually leave about 6:00, 6:30. they left a little late because i'm sick and i decided to take them

eyewitness news reporter stacey sager is in garden city, nassau county. stacey. >> reporter: well, hi, joe. the wind is still going pretty good but very light snow at this point. we're here on 7th street near franklin avenue in garden city. it looks pretty desolate down the street. still closed, the l.i.r.r. is still shut down, and we've seen why. this is the long island expressway tonight. old west ferry, where most drivers are heeding the travel ban. the same was true here on the meadow brook parkway and the oyster bay expressway where the only ones out tonight besides us are the snow plows and the ambulances. here in long beach, the waters of reynolds channel on the north side of the barrier island crept right up to the fishing pier, but not over it at high tide. a relief to city officials pouring all their equipment and personnel into snow removal. pedestrians were out and about, but not for long. meanwhile, in communities like westbury and beth paining, where at least 20 inches of snow have now fallen, side streets are still covered and main roads are

letter we are live in union square,ing stacey sager, channel 7 eyewitness news. >> stacey, thank you. >>> new at noon, police in brooklyn hope newly released surveillance video helps them track down a man wanted for a sexual assault. old victim was walking on bergen street in park slope when someone grabbed her from behind and inappropriately touched her. when the victim screamed the suspect ran way. >>> the slashing of a young woman in queens may have been a targeted attack but the suspect may have gone after the wrong person. the victim, who is an exchange student from china may have been the victim of mistaken identity t. a man wearing surgical gloves and a mask slashed her face and throat as she walked to school last month. her host family said a note was left at the house monday from the supposed attacker saying the girl was mistakenly targeted and he would come back to cut the right teen. >>> a homeless man charged in the murder of a mcdonald's manager. rafael gonzalez turned himself in to police. investigators say he stabbed adam garcia outside the kingsbridge mcdonald's after

i'm stacey sager, channel 7 eyewitness news. >> and autopsy reveals that an american tourist murdered in belize was strangled. 39-year-old anne sea knee was reported missing thursday from the hotel where she was staying. a river on friday. sweeney worked at the abc station in chicago where she managed on lightning operations -- online operations no. arrests have been made. >>> one american is among the dead after terrorist attack and siege in west africa. a small group of terrorists opened fire in a cafe and took control of a hotel in the capital of burkina faso last night. after gunfights overnight, local, french and american security forces successfully stormed the hotel. they freed 126 people but at least 28 others from 18 countries died. four terrorists were killed. and al-qaeda affiliate has claimed responsibility. >>> happening tomorrow, the democratic presidential candidates meet for the fourth and final debate before iowacaucuss, hillary clinton, bernie sanders and o'malley will debate on a stage in north charleston. virtual tie in iowa with hillary clinton and bernie sanders.

stacey sager posted a picture of him on her facebook page and has the story. >> reporter: he's only in second grade here in babylon. but wise beyond his years which is very clear the moment you meet him. you know what you want to be when you grow up? >> yes, i do. >> reporter: what do you want to be? >> a teacher. i already know. >> reporter: in fact, ben knows a lot. here on the dock, across the street from his home, he knew something wasn't right. a 1-year-old boy had slipped an fallen in the frozen water. he and his dad were outside playing about 40 guards a -- yards away. >> i heard cries of help. >> i didn't hear hi. vin a hear brock blesm. he said they need your help and i said who? and he said a boy fell in the water and needs your help. >> reporter: his dad was able to use this shovel to pull the boy out. >> the little boy appeared to for a moment he appeared to be in distress. >> reporter: it's now almost a whole day later. as you can see, these docks are still filled with chunks of snow and ice. very slippery. so the lesson in all of this, yeah, he knows. >> we're into the --

stacey sager is live in east harlem with more. >> this doctor is now facing multiple counts because as you said, another alleged victim has come forward. dr. david newman left here a short time ago saying nothing to reporters but what he's accused of doing has patients at a hospital known for its reputation cringing. 45-year-old e.r. doctor was taken away in handcuffs, patients at mount sinai hospital hearing today. >> oh, my god. disgusting. >> reporter: dr. david newman accused of masturbating then performing a lewd act on a patient who came to the emergency room for shoulder pain back on january 11th. law enforcement sources tell allegedly gave her an extra shot of morphine prior to the incident so he's also now facing a charge of assault in addition to sexual abuse. >> it's crazy. it's crazy. i don't know. i think he's sick. >> reporter: now authorities confirm a second alleged victim has come forward saying dr. newman fondled her breast when she came here for a cold in september. the hospital issued this statement saying, quote, he's not provided care to patients at mount sinai si

eyewitness news reporter stacey sager spoke with the victim's family. and she joins us now with more on this investigation. stacey. >> reporter: that's right, and police really need some more help on this one. this was a father of 3. he was just crossing this portion of candlewood road near new jersey avenue here in bay shore, and the unthinkable happens on christmas. he's just trying mother's house over here, but he never made it to her alive. >> his mother fights back tears as she pleads for help here in bay shore, her son 33-year-old emmanuel de jesus cruz killed in a hit and run on candlewood road on christmas. >> why did that person leave and did not help my child. i need justice for the death of my son. >> it was 5 p.m. and mr. zavalla was crossing the street to visit his mother for christmas dinner. police have not released the even the part we can't show you, because they're hoping whoever struck him has a conscience. >> it is a bit graphic but it's important that we catch this perpetrator, and if the perpetrator's watching this, i urge them to d

eyewitness news reporter stacey sager tweeted out this video of officer sherrod stuart leaving she spoke exclusively with the officer's family about his return home. >> reporter: after three surgeries and nearly two weeks in the hospital, nypd officer sherrod stewart heads home wearing a smile and a boot-like cast to protect his gunshot wound. as you can see, no shortage of friends and family were around him. five brothers, three sisters, and a whole lot of friends from the 40th precinct. we spoke exclusively to the officer's mother about what lies ahead. >> has he said he twunts -- he wants to go back to work? >> oh, definitely. my son isn't going to let that stop him. >> reporter: january 9th, the officer along with many others responded to a huge street fight. five were stabbed. numerous weapons recovered from the scene. and then donna stuart got a phone call in the middle of the night. but because she has six sons and sherrod's dad is in the military, she wasn't even sure >> you have tunnel vision and you're just walking through like it's a movie or something. >> reporter: the night

stacey sager has the >> they have control here. i come through the door, it's like. [ laughter ] >> reporter: let's just say julio pena is outnumbered. to be clear, he loves his girls. krista lynn. chastdy, and nikala. but mom is pregnant with baby number five. the gender was being kept a secret, put in to this envelope by their doctor. only their oldest chastity knew what was inside. >> i wanted to jump up and down and do cartwheels. >> reporter: they decided to get this cake and have a gender reveal party. yeah, that's a thing. if the inside was blue, it meant boy, and pink, you get the picture. so as the family chanted it's a boy, julio running through him. he's tearing up, and then -- [ screaming ] >> whoops. down for the count. >> i seen the color but my mind started playing games with me like wait a minute. i'm like wait, that's the color. oh, my god, it's a boy. and next thing you know, i just passed out. >> reporter: having a boy will mean big changes around here. a prince among princesses. >> having a son, finally buying b

eyewitness news reporter stacey sager is outside the university with new information. stacey. >> reporter: sade, incredible sadness around columbia university tonight and just so many students who will be returning here after their winter break with heavy hearts. school officials say 25 students went on this trip to honduras. it was sponsored by global brigades, that's a nonprofit group dedicated to helping people. and now this. >> they were going to honduras to work with people who were poor, people who had no access to healthcare. >> reporter: and the cruel irony, they lost their lives in a bus crash heading home wednesday. three students from columbia university killed after honduran officials say their heading to the airport and tumbled 260 feet down into a ravine. we now know barnard, jr. daniela grew up on manhattan's upper east side attending the raimentaz school. amelia earhart from cincinnati was an aspiring scientist. >> recently gained some interest in studying the space exploration, rockets and things like that. >> reporter: and so did 45-year- old abigail f

stacey sager reports. "so when we put super sam on your iv, his superpowers come into you and make you all better."sure sounds good to 6-year-old erik carmona of willowbrook, who just had his appendix removed here at northwell health's staten island university hospital. "it hurts over here, over here."but things can change when suddenly you got "superpower status." "this one looks like superman."actually it is super sam, one of 10 i-v "heroes" created by molloy college junior bobby lenahan here in rockville "and it is a simple paper sleeve that transforms the hospital room into an opportunity to get superpowers."like shadow control to hide if you're a quick shadow, or if you're diamond mask. "impervious to anything, she can turn her skin into diamond, make the kids feel strong."especially if they're more seriously ill than erik. he's the ninth pediatric patient to try i-v heroes at this hospital. the others all had cancer or blood disorders, but gave the product very high marks. "now eventually the goal is

stacey sager shared this picture on her instagram. she has the story. >> so when we put super sam on your iv, his superpowers come in >> reporter: sure sounds good to 6-year-old who just had his appendix removed at staten island university hospital. here. >> reporter: but things can change when suddenly you got superpower status. superman. >> reporter: actually, it is supersam, one of 10 iv heroes created by malloy college junior bobby meanham. >> it transforms the operating room to an opportunity to get superpowers. >> reporter: if you're diamond mask -- >> impervious to anything. she can turn her skin in to diamond, make the kids feel strong. >> reporter: especially if they're more seriously ill thaneric. than -- than eric. he's the ninth to try it at the hospital. the others all had cancer or blood disorders but gave the product very high marks. some of the more famous iv heroes come for a visit, like disney princesses. batman. >> reporter: wide ning the scope of his patent pending product is something bobby would love to do, maybe

stacey sager has reaction from one of the fathers of the boys. >> reporter: that boy's father has now hired an attorney here in brooklyn because he calls this unacceptable. you know, his son ended up in the emergency room after this fight and the way he found out about it was from the video he's the one in gray looking more like a referee than a grown-up in charge of these boys' well-being, armed on swinging and now the father of one of the boys is demanding answers. >> because at the end of the day this could be your child that's in that program that has to deal with these people that are not there for their safety. >> reporter: kevin jones tells us his 12-year-old son kayshon was encouraged by his coach marcus cruz to resolve his differences with a classmate here at ms53 in far rockaway, just not the way you would ever expect and another student was allowed to record it. >> he told me that the coach said let them fight. >> reporter: the program is called the sports and arts and schools foundation or sasf, whose mission is engaging students' minds and bodies. the department of educat

eyewitness news reporter stacey sager is in long beach, long island. >> reporter: i'm thinking of the caribbean right now. >> that's good thoughts. >> reporter: we're start ing to see the accumulation here. you can see the drifts that we saw. this reminds me of the end of all that snow and these huge snow drifts that stayed in place forever an people couldn't park their cars and we didn't know how to get rid of this stuff. it's going to be a while before this goes away. we're here on west park avenue, the main drag. we were down on the north shore earlier. the bay side of long beach the tide was coming up. high tide here is at 7:00 tonight. there was a concern for flooding. most people are just hanging out inside, not going out much. it's been kind of -- you know, people trying to say safe. here in long beach they have 45 pieces of equipment out on the roadways, they have plows. we've seen tons of plows coming by, salt trucks, sand truck, the works trying to keep things clean. we will be keeping you updated as the night goes on. i'm staceying sag erer, ing -- i'm stacey sager, endchan

reporter stacey sager is inhicksville with much -- is in hicksville with much more. >> reporter: obviously the big concern is power outages, especially if we get these strong winds that are being predicted for tomorrow. we just spoke with the folks they say they have a full fleet of crews. that's about 1,000 field personnel ready to go for tomorrow. now, already today there were crews out and about on long island's north shore especially which is more prone to power outages because of all the trees. pseg tells us because of programs like this one, that sin creasing the distance between power lines and tree branches, they've been able to reduce outages by as much as 60%. now, as for tomorrow's storm, they urge customers to remember two things. safety and patience. >> know the information that they need to know in terms of how to report an outage which is the 800 number. stay in touch with us through social media. we have an enhanced social media team with twitter and facebook. but also know that during a storm like this, there could be outages. so have a little patience with us. we want to

eyewitness news reporter stacey sager is in plainview with more. >> i call this the mother of all powerball pools because it involves mommies. and the people who bought in to this pool, they weren't all warm and cozy inside like these folks. instead the people who bought in, they lined up at the public pool, at the public library and these mommies had no idea how big it would become. >> like giddy. people are just giddy about this. >> reporter: and talk about getting in it to win it. these two mommies from plain view and old bethpage, they're in it up to their eyeballs. >> i'm a little nauseous. [ laughter ] from walking around with just a nauseous, nervous, crazy excited feeling. >> what if something goes terribly wrong? >> reporter: what could go wrong? allie and her friend debbie figured they'd get about 15 or so of the other moms when they first started throwing around the ticket pool idea on the plainview mom's facebook page. that was last week when but what do you get when you mix

stacey sager, channel 7 eyewitness news. >> wow. i'm still processing what the professor had to say. >>> we saw the photo that stacy put on instagram earlier showing all those tickets and tonight there's a very good chance that we'll see a winner but lottery >> we anticipate more than 85% potentially as high as 90% of all of the possible combinations that can be wagered on will be covered by tonight's drawing. now it's really up to lady luck. >> won't be covered though. the only place you can watch the numbers drawn on tv tonight, right here on channel 7 before eyewitness news at 11:00. and we're also going to stream the numbers on the watch abc app and at abc7ny. >>> now to some breaking news. new developments in a story we told you about last hour in east new york, brooklyn. shannon sohn above the scene with an update. >> a horrible scene here. police do have three suspects in custody following today's shooting but the shots rang out at about 2:46 this afternoon right around when school is betting out. as you mentioned two teenage

eyewitness news reporter stacey sager is in mineola with new details released by police today. >> he is a roman catholic priest. he was busted with crack cocaine this morning. but what he tells investigators is that much more shocking. complaint in this case, the priest tries to explain his alleged crack habit and said it all started after his sister was brutally murdered. >> reporter: nassau police were staking out this motel in bethpage this morning on one case when suddenly they stumbled on another. an alleged drug deal between two men but one of them turns out to be a catholic priest. 63-year-old robert lubrano and his alleged drug of choice -- >> a substance believed to be crack cocaine and a silver colored metal pipe with what appeared to be crack cocaine residue was recovered at the scene. >> reporter: what's really disturbing is according to the criminal complaint, lubrano tells police he had been smoking crack ever since his sister was murdered. it was back in october of 2014. 66-year-old patricia ward was decapitated by her own son. her head just left farmingdale in a case

stacey sager has the story. "so when we put super sam on your iv, his superpowers come into you and make you all better."sure sounds good to 6-year-old erik carmona of willowbrook, who just had his appendix removed here at northwell health's staten island university hospital. "it hurts over here, over here."but things can change got "superpower status." "this one looks like superman."actually it is super sam, one of 10 i-v "heroes" created by molloy college junior bobby lenahan here in rockville centre. "and it is a simple paper sleeve that transforms the hospital room into an opportunity to get superpowers."like shadow control to hide if you're a quick shadow, or if you're diamond mask. "impervious to anything, she can turn her skin into diamond, make the kids feel strong."especially if they're more seriously ill than erik. he's the ninth pediatric patient to try i-v heroes at this hospital. the others all had cancer or blood disorders, but gave the product very high marks. "now eventually the goal is to have s