earlier this year, scott stringer issued a claims stat report showing a 53% increase over the last decade in play ground related lawsuits against new york city. the claims, often over trip hazards and broken jungle gyms, cost over $20 million in settlements and judgments. >> it's clear there's a problem with the parks department maintaining our play grounds. >> reporter: do you think this data represents a problem? >> i think it represents a problem in the sense that we need to tighten up our internal processes. >> reporter: the deputy parks commissioner told us the work order backlog may look worse than it is because of data entry delays. often repairs are made but no one enters them. cavanaugh says the cracked black top in brooklyn and sharp fences in queens were fixed within 30 days. the images the i-team took he says may be new problems. >> you can make repairs on fencing and come back a month later and have to make the same repair. there's not a lot to do to restore black stop. >> reporter: jeffrey croft runs nyc park advocates. he's concerned neighbor play grounds may be getting les

controller scott stringer says the city has $3.7 million in unclaimed wage settlements. workers are owed an average of $3,500 each. the controller's office sets wage and benefit rates for city-funded projects and tracks workers who are owed payments. >>> let's get a look at our forecast. we ended that heat wave yesterday. lonnie quinn has been monitoring new jersey rain storms. >> looks better for just about everybody out there. but boy, our four-hour time period came down in buckets for a select few. westchester reporting the temperatures around the area -- westchester reporting temperatures around the area, upper 70s, 80s for some folks. we didn't find 90 degrees not in new york city today. so kristine was right. the heat wave ended yesterday with that 90. what i see right now in new york city is the sky that's mostly cloudy. temperatures come in 80 degrees as of right now. headlines look like this. we have definitely had some storms popping up. they have been isolated only for a few of you out there. some you have haven't seen anything. if you are on the eastern side

. >> reporter: earlier this year, city comptroller scott stringer issued a claims stat report, showing a 53% increase over the last decade in playground-related lawsuits against new york city. the claims often over trip hazards and broken jungle gyms cost taxpayers more than $20 million in settlements and judgments. >> whether it's claims about your investigation, it's clear that there's a problem with the parks departments maintaining our playgrounds. >> reporter: do you think this data represents a problem? >> i think it represents a problem in a sense that we need to tighten up our internal processes. >> reporter: deputy parks commissioner liam calve vanaugh told us the work order backlog may look worse than it is because of data entry delays. he says often repairs are made, but no one enters them in the computer.

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

stringer's 54% approval rating. governor cuomo has 58% approval. worse news for mayor de blasio, only 41% of voters want to see him re-elected. 47% saying they have had enough. >>> after the storm comes the clean-up for people on the north shore of suffolk county the high winds that blasted the area yesterday leaving behind a tangled mess of downed trees power lines and a lot of damage. cbs 2's jennifer mclogan reports. >> reporter: this is what we have seen repeated over and over in the path of the storm. there will be no enjoyment anytime soon for the family and their backyard patio or their swimming pool now filled with their maple tree. >> this is worse than hurricane sandy. we lost six trees up there that are about 200 years old. and it's a mess. >> reporter: he and his family still feel trapped on quaker path in stony brook amid toppled trees and dangling wires. his neighbors are moving with caution. pets, too, as homeowners prepare for another day without power. >> murphy's law my generator broke yesterday so

stringer, suggested that the mayor and the city did not act fast enough to deal with this disease. you followed it very closely. what do you think? >> i followed it very closely and was in very close contact with the people doing the investigation. i think they did a great job. i really do. you know, they detected this because they have an outbreak detection system that was triggered when there was an increased rate of legionnaires' disease in those areas, and that's when they sprung into action and they took these steps. i think they did a really good job for so much politics around this. >> well, there is. we're not gonna talk to you about it, but we have political experts coming up next that i will talk about. >> yeah. >> personal question -- you are a public health doctor. you're a pediatrician. your whole life designed for public health. you come to television. we all saw you during the swine flu epidemic. you were acting director of the cdc. we all said, "this guy's really good. he's good on television." sure enough, here you come to abc. are you having fun? is it what you th

city controller scott stringer wrote to the president last week pushing for christopher park to get the distinction. the stone wall is a private business and is not eligible for national monument status. the iconic gay bar where rites took place is considered as the birthplace of the modern lgbt movement. >>> good news for drivers in the garden state. gas prices in some parts of new jersey dipping below $2 a gallon. prices as low as $1.97 offered at this gas station in wood bridge. this is the ninth straight week gas prices have dropped. the state average is $2.32 a gallon but prices are expected to keep dropping through the fall. >>> growing concerns over topless women in time square. now the state officials have stepped in. why they were questioning the nearly naked panhandlers today. >>> the new security measures amtrak is putting in place for passengers on their trains. >>> no hospitals, no doctors, just two good samaritans that helped deliver a baby on the side of the road. i'm rene stoll and i have the dad's story coming up. >>> the humidity is here but here to stay for a couple d

scott stringer wrote the president pushing for christopher park to get the distinction. the stone wall is a private business and not eligible for national monument status. that's why they want that plaza. it's where riots took place in 1969 and is considered by many as the birthplace of the modern lgbt movement. >>> two men will be arraigned on weapons charges in boston today after police say they made violent online threats pokemon world championships. the two men from iowa were the event. their car. what they found is the men had a 12 gauge shotgun, ar-15 rifle, several hundred rounds of ammunition and a hunting knife. no word yet on a motive. >>> now to an abc news exclusive. new video reveals how those two convicted killers broke out of the upstate new york prison. investigators wearing a go pro retraced their steps through the escape tunnel. all this is on camera. eyewitness news anchor ken rosato has the story. >> abc news has exclusive new video showing the escape route david sweat and richard matt used to bust out of prison on june 6th. >> entering the under side

. >> reporter: critics including the comptroller scott stringer have complained the city was outbreak. in response the city released supportive statements from a half dozen experts and the mayor said listen to the experts not the politicians. live in the newsroom, tony aiello, cbs 2 news. >>> tony, thank you. have an emergency? help could be just a text away. local lawmakers are pushing a plan to upgrade new york city's 911 emergency system. a bill introduced to the city council today would require the city to come up with a 911 texting plan within a year. sponsors of the bill say the technology could help people in dangerous situations who are unable to make a voice call. it would also allow user to send pictures and video. >> the death toll is rising in china following those massive explosions at a warehouse for dangerous chemicals. 50 people died after last night's fiery blast in tianjin a port city southeast of beijing. 700 people were injured dozens missing. the shock waves from the explosions knocked people off their feet. hundreds of new cars in a parking lot were scorched. aut

. >>> new york city comptroller scott stringer calling on the public to locate 1,000 workers entitled to unclaimed wages. >> these men and women earned the money fair and square. their employer cheated them out of wages and benefits to which they were entitled. we are trying to locate the workers to get them the money they earned. >> the $3.7 million in unclaimed wages are a result of contractors that worked for the city. workers in queens are owed the most money and staten island are owed the least. a controllers web site let's you search by name to see if you are owed money. we have the link at abc7ny. >>> oscar pistorius being released from prison is on hold. his approval for house arrest coming too soon. a parole board will review his case. he should have served 10 months for manslaughter for killing his girlfriend, reeva steenkamp. officials say he was approved for release eight months into his sentence. >>> yvonne craig, known best as bat girl has died. she joined the third and final season as bat girl, a librarian that fought crime as her alter ego. she did all of her own stunt

. >>> scott stringer is looking for more than 1,000 workers collectively owed millions of dollars in unclaimed wages, and pay the wages. each are due $3,500, and some are owed more. his office is spreading the word with social media and flyers without the city. >>> a hint of sun out there, and you will get that and see more clouds than we saw yesterday. that's the hallmark of the day today. clouds and muggy. 80degrees with the calm winds. popping up to 80 in the hamptons. and i will tell you what dough points are up today as well. waiting for the rain tornado into friday. >> john, thank you. we are always on at cbsnewyork.com. i'm mary calvi. hope you have a great day. -- i'm alex denis. hope you have a great day. i'm caridee. i've had moderate to severe plaque psoriasis most of my life. but that hasn't stopped me from modeling. my doctor told me about stelara it helps keep my skin clearer. with only 4 doses a year after 2 starter doses... ...stelara helps me be in season. stelara may lower your ability to fight infections and increase your risk of infections. some serious infections

. >>> scott stringer is looking for more than 1,000 workers, collectively owed millions of dollars in unclaimed wages, and the money is from contractors who failed to pay the prevailing page over 10 years and the workers are each due an average of $3,500, and some are owed much more. his office is spreading the word throughout the city. >>> a risky right caught on camera during rush hour. >> this guy is texting while driving a truck. >>> concerned commuter tells us what he hopes will happen, and now that's a cbs 2 exclusive. >>> sneaking up on an innocent woman in the middle of church? terrifying new video shows what happened next. >>> welcome back to cbs 2 news this morning. time for traffic and weather on the 2s, and john, we see a bit of sun peeping through. is that a glimmer of hope? >> not really. it's trying to get through, and sun is up at 6:11 as promised. it's 6:12. there's definitely going to be more clouds than sun today. parts of the area seeing a hazy sun mid-morning before we see the clouds take over. mid-70s dominating the map. 72 for the jersey shore, but it's the comm