as well. in a radio interview with 1010- wins, police commissioner bill bratton says getting rid of the multi-million dollar pedestrian plaza is the best way to handle the panhandling and harassment of times square. >> we just dig it up and put it backing a a street again. >> reporter: the mayor rated a task force to study the problems of times square and its members are expected to produce a report with solutions by october 1. when asked about the commissioner's idea during a news conference today, the mayor said -- >> that will be considered by the task force. now, that's a very big endeavour. and like every other option comes with pros and cons. >> for the last 18 months this administration has been building these plazas. you know how much it's going to cost to rip them up? do you know what a disruption it will be to times square to rip them up? it makes no sense. >> reporter: kim tompkins with the times square alliance is

fuming over the idea. he says the city created the pedestrian plazas for safety reasons, because overcrowded sidewalks were forcing people into the streets. he says the solution is regulating the costumed characters and topless women with body paint. new yorker agrees. >> i don't think it's a solution because this is what times square is. it brings these people to the stores and businesses. you sit down and have a good time. especially at nighttime you get to see the lights and everything. >> reporter: but for drivers dealing with stopped traffic at the crossroads of the world, they want the plaza gone. >> the traffic is terrible. the mayor has to do something with this. >> reporter: as for the topless women in body paint who sparked this debate, as you can see, they are nowhere to be seen right now or today. might be because their manager was arrested last night here in times square wanted on an outstanding warrant.

it was drug-related. live in times square, matt kozar, cbs 2 news. >> matt, thank you. more information now on the times square pedestrian plaza. mayor bloomberg announced the plans in 2009 as a trial and then in 2010, the plaza became permanent. the renovation project cost $55 million. the next mayoral election is 810 days away but already, there is buzz about democrats who might challenge bill de blasio. cbs 2's tony aiello says that includes a friend who is now lining up as a political foe. >> reporter: central park is the view from his fifth avenue office but powerhouse developer don peebles might have his sight set on an office at city hall. peebles supported mayor de blasio with time and money but now has what he calls buyer's remorse. >> like many other new yorkers i have lost confidence in him add not to say he is not a nice person. because he is. i don't believe he is up for the job and i proved that for the first two years.

>> reporter: de blasio ran on a tale of two cities theme but peebles says instead of inspiring people, he has created a sour atmosphere of division. >> he has divided the city along economic lines. he has divided the city on racial lines. all to his political advantage. >> reporter: like many entrepreneurs, peebles has made headlines with bold proposals, buying the nba clippers, or long island college hospital. both deals fell through. peebles saidist serious about this possible challenge -- peebles said he is serious about this possible challenge focusing on a positive message of creating economic opportunity. >> what's the most frustrating is the policies i see bill de blasio implementing are going to further impede the upward mobility of people who need it. >> reporter: fueling the early talk about 2015, 2017 -- >> de blasio managed to tick off the governor, the clintons and a lot of people who, you

know, worry about new york city falling back into old bad habits. >> reporter: today the mayor pointed to universal pre-k, overall crime reductions and his affordable housing plan. >> and anyone who wants to run against me, god bless 'em and i'd like to see what they want to put up in comparison to that in terms of record of achievement on behalf of the people of this city. >> reporter: the mayor says he hears the names being bandied about including public advocate tish james and comptroller scott stringer. supporters are urging tony avella and dan garodnick to run. this is a long list but the mayor says, come one, come all. kristine? >> all right, tony. overcrowded and unsafe. now the lirr is making some changes. it is a situation we first told you about earlier this week. people packed on lirr trains standing in aisles some sitting on the floor. cbs 2 demanded answers and now gets action. dave carlin is live at jamaica

station in queens with the railroad's response to the cramped conditions. dave. >> reporter: kristine, new rules stronger enforcements and in time for tomorrow's cannonball express to montauk new rules that the long island rail road admit are the direct resulted of a cbs 2 investigation. >> picture is 1,000 words and there's no question that video had him packet. so we knew we had to responsible respond in some fashion. >> reporter: we knew they had a probable -- they knew they had a problem when the conditions were exposed to the cannonball train. this crackdown on lirr letterhead. no luggage will be permitted in aisles or door ways. the warning specifically for cannonball commute. >> we are not going to let you keep it in the aisle.

allow serious overcrossing. the cannonball express train has 12 cars, three of them with reserve seating only. a total of 1,046 seats run reserved up for grabs. on august 7, 1,540 riders were on board. and 494 were left standing. per car. the new bag restrictions have some riders seeing red. they say, the lirr appears to be blaming them, specifically their luggage. >> small bags, no, just make more trains. we have to pack this stuff. that's not going to change. >> reporter: the lirr has difficulty adding train cars because platforms on long island are short. our cbs 2 investigation on the overcrowding put it on the radar with federal regulators who consider this potentially dangerous in an emergency situation. so the lirr says, it will be strict. >> we'll have to keep people from getting on if it reaches that situation. >> reporter: if people are

aware of this crackdown, will they be in even more of a rush when the track number comes on to jam on the train? could it create a worse situation? >> i don't believe so. we are going as to have enough staff. plus we have the ability to keep folks upstairs if necessary to keep them from all coming down at one time. >> reporter: some people standing in the aisles on those trains that will still be okay but not with big bags in the way. live at jamaica station, dave carlin, cbs 2 news. >> dave, thank you. now to a commuter alert. power problems are making a mess for some subway riders tonight. a coned issue impacting signal powers causing service changes on the 4 and 5 lines. so some southbound 4 and 5 trains are ending at brooklyn bridge, city hall and bowling green. some 5 trains are running on the 2 line from nevin street to 1489th street grand concourse in both directions. and northbound 4 trains are terminating at atlantic avenue barclays center. some new information about the chemical attack that left

a woman in queens with severe burns on her face. sources tell cbs 2 that the victim is 59-year-old alexandra dyer. she runs a group in long island city that works with people facing social, mental or physical challenges. according to police, the man confronted her yesterday evenly -- evening, yelled at her and threw liquid in her face. she had third-degree burns. >> very bad. can't open the eyes. she can't, um, open the mouth that much. the tongue, it's purple. >> dyer may have surgery in a few weeks. the attacker by the way is still on the loose. police are searching for two men posing as police officers on staten island. they are accused in two robberies on july 12th. one man stole a woman's purse at the highland boulevard stop & shop at gunpoint. the second man posed as a cop telling the good samaritan who tried to catch the thief he had the situation under control. hours earlier both suspects

midland avenue. back on august 7, they allegedly struck again taking $50 from an 18-year-old boy outside a bank on new dorp lane. >> there's no morality anymore. there's no "law and order" anymore. >> you got to rob people like that? they got to pose as a police officer? that's pretty stupid. >> investigators say while the men identified themselves as police officers, they were not wearing police uniforms or carrying badges. no more legionnaire's disease in the bronx. the city health department has announced the outbreak is over. it has also identified the cooling tower at the opera house hotel as the source of the outbreak. 12 people died and 127 were infected. last week the city passed new regulations for the inspection of cooling towers as a way of preventing future outbreaks. former president jimmy carter spoke publicly today about his recent cancer diagnosis. during a news conference at

the carter center in atlanta, the 90-year-old spoke about his condition. he says at first he thought the cancer was contained -- contained to his liver but then they said it spread to four spots on his brain. but the were says keeping a positive outlook. >> hope for the best and accept what comes. i think i have been as blessed as any human being in the world. >> to combat the cancer, carter is receiving radiation treatments and injections of drugs to boost his immune system. he says so far he feels good and hasn't felt much pain. turning to campaign 2016, a new poll shows vice president joe biden doing better than hillary clinton against republican front- runner donald trump. the quinnipiac poll has him out doing trump in three key swing states, florida, ohio and pennsylvania. although in florida, his advantage is within the margin of error. now, the same poll shows trump

ahead of clinton 43% to 41% in florida again within the margin of error. clinton still leads in ohio and pennsylvania. now, at this point, the vice president hasn't said he is running. same street name, same zip codes and long island residents now fed up with the confusion. now showing, bag checks at the movies. the major chain that's stepping up security. >> wet weather on the way potentially some flooding overnight into tomorrow morning. we'll talk details coming up in my full forecast. >> also coming up on the "cbs evening news" tonight, the dangerous firefight out west. charlie rose in for scott good evening, charlie. >> reporter: hey, good evening, kristine. 3 firefighters died after the deadly. our reporters are on the scene to explain what happened and we'll speak to the parents of the youngest fallen hero. ahead on the "cbs evening

news." patients recently rated their care experience at over 3,500 hospitals nationwide in a survey conducted for the centers for medicare and medicaid. only seven percent received five stars. including four of ours. learn more at cancercenter.com

what town doesn't have a maple avenue or park place? they are common street names. but in one long island community, there are dozens of duplicates all in the same zip code. cbs 2's carolyn gusoff explains, it is confusing! >> reporter: at dory's daycare, the biggest challenge is often just getting here. >> it's horrible because i get

people's mail all the time, i get their mail. i have to give them explicit directions because you can't find me. >> reporter: the name of this street, riverside drive in the same zip code as another riverside, a half mile away. >> that's ridiculous. >> reporter: she is one of thousands of residents on 32 streets in the towns of riverhead and southampton with similar names sharing the same zip code. 18 other streets have identical names. there's e street in southampton town, and east street in river ahead same zip code. >> i get some weird deliveries things i have nothing to do with. not mine. >> we need our own zip code. >> reporter: confusion nearly cost carol prized yankees tickets. >> we barely, barely made it. >> reporter: because the ups guy got lost. >> got lost. >> reporter: but far worse, the fear the next driver who gets lost may be coming to save a life. >> time is of the essence when you make that 911 call. >> reporter: a congressman asking the u.s. postmaster to

create three new zip codes in three hamlets in the town of southampton. >> the answer is for the postmaster general to how to get to yes. >> reporter: what seems like a quick fix has stalled for decades. the post office says it's complicated to change a zip code. banking security credit cards even airline tickets may be tied into your zip code. but in a digital age, residents say it's time to make the change a priority. >> now it matters because there's more people buying more things online things are being shipped and because the gps doesn't bring you to where you need to be. >> reporter: the postal service says it will survey residents before giving the new zip code the stamp of approval. in riverhead, long island, carolyn gusoff, cbs 2 news. >> the postal service will review it over the next two months. big changes could be coming to a theater near you. regal cinemas a major u.s. theater chain has announced plans to start searching customer bags and backpacks. the new security measure is the result of recent deadly movie theater shoot things.

but new row -- shootings. but new rochelle police commissioner said they need full security screening to be safe. >> i know people think that there's going to be some kind of security and maybe it's that effect that they are looking for. >> i would not have a problem with that. >> i think it is a bad idea. i think it's an invasion of privacy. >> on its website, regal theaters asked for customers' patience with what is a new inconvenience. vanessa murdoch is in for lonnie quinn tonight with our exclusive forecast from cbs 2. and it was muggy today. >> i know. everybody is talking about the sticky weather. it does break. but not until late tomorrow and saturday. it will be much more comfortable. in the meantime, we have wet weather on the way and, in fact, today many spots already got some wet weather so with our weather watchers information i'd like to show you how much fell in the western portion of the viewing area. western portion of new jersey got the wet weather this afternoon.

here's some of the totals: >> things will be changing as we move forward. more rain for more of us with the potential for flash flooding overnight know tomorrow morning north and west of the city. partly sunny 82 right now with southeast winds at 15 miles per hour, humidity 56%. but that obviously doesn't tell us how sticky it is out there. very muggy this evening. that trend continues tomorrow morning. we have a flash flood watch in effect until 9 a.m. tomorrow morning west of the city. again, there is a slight potential north of the city for flash flooding to occur as well and here's why. lots of wet weather on the way and it's slow-moving. it's going to slow down even a bit more as gets closer to us. right now, warren parts of sussex county getting light rain main event though back here. this is the cold front that will be pushing on through bringing us rain.

it will be heavy at times for some. one to two inches. isolated locations may get as much as 3 inches of rain as this system slowly makes its way through and that could lead to that localized floodin tomorrow morning. so plan extra time early tomorrow morning. here's how we see things shaping up. 5 a.m. the city points west still getting rained on. notice how the line weakens. as it makes its way east, it still doesn't look crazy impressive but we could get locally high totals. 9 a.m. it is east of the city. after the noon hour it's lingering a bit on the east end of long island but the general trend tomorrow afternoon is for clearing skies. your saturday is looking good. but we are due for a weekend that's not so great. sunday, we could see some showers mainly east of the city. so here we go. wet weather early possible flooding afternoon partial clearing. saturday 83 degrees looking decent partly sunny more

comfortable with lower humidity. on sunday 82, chance of showers mainly east of the city. after that, the forecast looking much drier much more comfortable next week. otis livingston is here with a look ahead at sports. otis. >> kristine, the yankees in a dogfight for the division and a bird has captured the imagination of bomber backers. and it's year 2 for eric decker. he has to get used to a new offense and quarterbacks. what's his outlook?

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it is time for sports. it's thursday so the yankees are good or what's the outlook? >> it's a long season. right now turn that frown upside-down. fresh off a three-game sweep over the twins the yankees welcome the indians to the bronx. the same indians squad that took two out of three a little over a week ago. the yankees still unsure when mark teixiera will be back so greg bird the rookie gets the start.

he had two two-run home runs. he helped the yankees right the ship. >> sometimes, it gets started with the big hit. and, um, we have had a big -- a lot of big hits from a number of different guys on the clubs. that's how you win games. they have been big home runnings is what they have been. you think of the one carlos had in toronto or the one alex had the other night and bird. we got the timely hitting that we weren't getting when we were losing. >> meanwhile, the struggling mets have the night off. they will be in colorado tomorrow. they are still in first place in the division leading the nationals by 3.5 games. and they also have a solid starting rotation. question mark, should they be concerned about the bullpen? they have lost four of the last five games and you can place responsibility on the relievers including last night's loss in baltimore where carlos torres gave up a person's first career major league home run in the ninth. os win in walkoff fashion. all right. last thing the jets into offensive lineman suspended the first regular season

without pay for violating the substance abuse policy. wide receiver eric decker setting in with the jets getting acclimated to a new offense. >> there are changes in place. fitzpatrick at the held, marshall on the outside a great group of running backs. i'm excited. we have had some really good practices. only played one series last game. next games will tell where we're at. i am enjoying the creative of the coach and what we're going to be as an offense. >> for more of my one-on-one interviews, tune into ready for take-off our half-hour pre- game show tomorrow night at 7:00. preseason jets, falcons, game at 7:30. and finally tonight little leaguers always remember how many out there are. let's head up to fenway park. one out in the 7th inning. the indians jose ramirez flies out to red sox right field ericas city i don't.

-- right fielder ericas city i don't. >> he is allow to take third but the next batter struck out. so it didn't come back to helicopter him. and the red sox won. >> wasn't paying attention. >> one out only.

>> we'll be right back. [excited yelling] ah, yes! you can't stop it! aww...your mom liked my post. you're friends with my mother? whoa. another episode? definitely. we all use it differently. so why should we get it all the same way? call time warner cable to get the internet speed you need. are you guys texting each other? whether it's 3 megs or 300 megs. yeah. for the right price. from $14.99 everyday low price internet, to 300 meg ultra-fast internet, we have you covered. even with wifi at home and on the go. plans start at $14.99 per month. call 1-855-want twc to switch today. time warner cable. enjoy better.

coming up later on cbs 2 news at 11:00, $24,000 worth of handbags stolen in just a matter of minutes. new video shows the couple in action and why investigators say they are not new at this. it is a cbs 2 exclusive. plus, we all know that dining out can be expensive. so what about restaurants where you pick the price? details on the new jersey deal that is about to expire. that and much more coming up tonight at 11:00. join us later for the news at 9:00 on tv 10/55. up next on the "cbs evening news with scott pelley," a political food fight breaks out between donald trump and jeb bush. thanks for joining us. have a good evening. captions by: caption colorado