NY News Update: Teen accused of starting NJ wildfires

This is the Fox 5 News Block

Good afternoon everyone, I'm Nick Gregory and welcome to the Fox 5 News Block here

It's been a pretty decent day. Once again, nice and mild weather out there, but of course the weather continues to be dry

And that's been a problem, of course, for the big wildfires that have been happening in parts of central and southern New Jersey

So we'll take a look at that humidity level first to show you how dry it is. Again, in the 20 to 30 percent range

So again, we are in the wildfire season. And if, of course, you throw in any kind of wind issues, then you can see the wildfires spread

a little bit more. And that's been the case the last couple of days, although we haven't had a lot of strong wind in the forecast. Currently, the wind is up there at about 10 miles an hour on

average in most places. It's coming up out of the south to southwest, so that's keeping us quite mild

in inland areas, but cooler temperatures again as you get along the coast. But the issue could be

again, that some of the smoke from the fire conditions there may actually spread northward

Here's our futurecast wind guidance, and you can see it sort of continues out of the west or out of

the south to southwest, but light speeds, five to about 10 miles per hour or so. And that will

continue on into tomorrow. So that's something, again, to keep in mind the potential for some air

quality issues going on. In fact, again, we do have that air quality alert that is in effect

Now it's going to go until midnight. Again, it covers the lower Hudson Valley, does include all

of New York City, including Staten Island as well, and extending off all the way to the eastern and

Long Island. Notice, though, it has been taken down in parts of Ocean County because that's where

we can point there southward where they've had those fires. Now, one thing to really help put

out the fire would be some rain. As we look at the big picture, there is rain out there southwest

and also off to the west. It's not going to get here tomorrow, but you're going to see in the

future cast, it will be arriving down the road. So overnight, mainly clear, mild night, upper 50s

to about 60 in the city. And we'll look for some low to middle 50s as you get into some of the

suburbs. All right, tomorrow, nice day again. Sunshine, some clouds should be pretty mild away

from the coast. 60s out on the island. Low 70s down along the Jersey Shore. Mid to upper 70s as

you go from New York City on north and west. Tomorrow night, clouds are around. Showers will

arrive as temperatures again stay pretty mild in the 50s to about 60. And then as we head into

Saturday, again, there's going to be showers, maybe even a thunderstorm moving through. Temperature's

not quite as warm, but we'll still be right around the 70 degree mark. Bianca. Tell me what

Nick, thanks so much. All right. We're going to turn things over to Linda, who is covering the

wildfires right now, the air quality. She's in Battery Park. Linda. Yeah, first of all, good afternoon to you there, Bianca. We're talking today about a teenager who

is now under arrest related to the wildfire there in New Jersey. He lives in Weartown

New Jersey, which is where that fire started, and he is 19 years old. Go ahead, take a look here

Joseph Kling is now charged with arson. Authorities say he started a bonfire with some wood pallets on Tuesday morning, about nine o'clock or so

And then he left the area without making sure the fire was fully extinguished So far it has torched about 15 acres in Weartown and Lacey Township in Ocean County which is very close to the Jersey Shore It also forced the evacuation of about 5

residents on Tuesday and destroyed a family business. By the way, those residents have

been allowed to return home. That happened yesterday. The wildfire is continuing to burn

in New Jersey right now. Authorities saying it is 50 percent contained. However

it is creating some air quality issues. Nick Gregory was just talking about that

not only in New Jersey, but also here in the city, Long Island and the lower Hudson Valley

where there is a health advisory today. Earlier today, we spoke with a pulmonologist

There's more particles in the air from the smoke and the ash that's burning in the wildfires down

in central Jersey. The people that are affected are those that have chronic lung and heart

illnesses such as asthma and heart disease, and the elderly above the age of 65, as well

as children under the age of 14, pregnant ladies, and anyone that has asthma

And the doctor also telling us that if you can stay inside today, you should definitely

do that if you fall within that group that is at risk here with all of those particles

and smoke and everything in the air. And if you do have to go out, wear the N95 masks that we wore a lot during COVID

Now, as far as when this fire is going to be fully contained in South Jersey

authorities are still telling us today the earliest would be on Saturday

Bianca, back inside to you. All right, Linda, thank you for that. The second day of testimony resumed in Harvey Weinstein's sexual assault retrial

Elizabeth Enten, a friend of accuser Miriam Howley, took the stand. She said in 2006, Haley confided in her that Harvey Weinstein sexually assaulted her

73-year-old Weinstein is now in a wheelchair due to health issues. He's being held at the prison ward at Bellevue Hospital so he can get necessary medical treatment

while his retrial is underway right here in Manhattan. He was previously held at Rikers, and Weinstein has pled not guilty to the rape and sex assault charges and allegations

And an arrest is made in the deadly shooting of a grandmother in Harlem

Police say 23-year-old Darius Smith is being charged with attempted murder, but authorities have not said if he was a shooter

61-year-old Aksenia Mehta was shot and killed crossing Malcolm X Boulevard Tuesday night, and police are saying that she was not the intended target

Meanwhile, the city council is considering a ban on tourist helicopter flights over Manhattan

This comes after the sightseeing helicopter crash in the Hudson that killed a family of five tourists, plus the pilot earlier this month

Council members introduced a bill that would control these flights because of noise standards

But the Helicopter Oversight Act would prohibit flights that are not deemed necessary unless they meet the most stringent FAA noise standards

And Mayor Adams NYPD Commissioner Tish and various other leaders were on Long Island this morning to oversee the destruction of thousands of illegal firearms Officials say more than 3 weapons were destroyed and then donated to the School of Cooperative Technical Education which is actually part of New York City public school

system. Students there will then repurpose that medal and create a memorial to honor those who

have been impacted by gun violence. City officials say more than 21,000 illegal firearms have been

seized since Mayor Adams took office and more than half of them were ghost guns

Well, President Trump asking the Supreme Court to allow a ban on transgender members of the military to take effect

He had signed an executive order saying transgender service members conflicted with a soldier's honorable and disciplined life

But in March, a judge in the state of Washington put a pause on that ban

He ruled in favor of long serving transgender military members who say the ban is insulting and discriminatory

President Trump urging Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop attacking Ukraine. In a Truth Social post, Trump wrote that he is not happy with the latest Russian strikes on Kiev

He then wrote, Vladimir, stop. The post comes after Russia struck Kiev with a barrage of missiles and drones overnight

killing at least nine people and injuring more than 70. It was the deadliest assault on the city since last July

The president commented on a potential peace deal a short time ago at the White House

And I think everybody in this, you know, at this time in NATO, they want to see this thing happen

And so we have a deadline. And after that, we're going to have a very much different attitude

But I think that there's a very good chance of getting done. President Trump added that he believes both Ukraine and Russia want peace

All right, we're going to be right back. Stay with us. It's on Friday. I'll be on the field

You're going to be there? Is that the football guy? Can you give me a minute

Thanks. So, do you have any plans on Saturday? I was thinking

Hey, is that the guy? Yeah, it's the guy. I found Mr. Squishy

Hello, dear. Here, there, everywhere. Reliable internet where you need it most

Prices start at $30 per month when bundled. Go to Spectrum.com to learn more

Welcome back. The world continues to mourn the loss of Pope Francis. Tens of thousands of people have lined up to pay their final respects

Public turnout has been so strong, the Vatican extended public viewing hours. Vatican officials are expected to keep this in place until 8 p.m. local time on Friday

That is when the closing of the casket ceremony begins ahead of the Holy Father's funeral on Saturday morning

Pope Francis has been called the People's Pope for embracing humanity, just one of the many reasons why the faithful say that they had to come say goodbye in person

This is Cardinals held their second congregation meeting ahead of the forthcoming conclave

where they're going to begin the process of electing the very next pope. Well, I think it's very important to be here, just to show respect to the Holy Father

The faithful should trust. The Lord gave us the signs. The last two popes were gifts

I don't think the Lord will turn away from us. After the funeral there will be nine days of mourning before the PayPal conclave begins And people in a Brooklyn neighborhood say someone has been throwing liquid cooking oil and bleach from an apartment window and onto the street below

And as you can imagine, the nasty fluids have landed on passerbys. Fox Eyes' Richard Jacobus has the disgusting details

A casual stroll along Kent Avenue in Williamsburg may not be so casual after all

Well, at least not in front of this window that sits above a manhole cover surrounded by a discolored part of the sidewalk

I always look up to see if anyone's like doing anything. And I just like walk right by

Yeah, it's nerve wracking. Those who live in this neighborhood near North Fifth and Sixth Streets who may unnaturally look up a few times say they're on guard

It's all because they say a person occupying a second floor apartment has been pelting eggs, throwing cooking oil and tossing bleach on random passersby seemingly just for fun

All of this reportedly began back in December, but the culprit so far has avoided being identified

All of a sudden she gets hit with something in her foot and it turns out it's an egg

She looks around what's going on. One resident who did not want to show his face on camera tells us that his pregnant wife was pelted a few months ago

He and his family now only walk on the opposite side of the street

I called the cops, other people called the cops and nothing happened. No one came out. And the local supermarket staff is urging customers to avoid the northeast side of the street, even if that means crossing it twice to get to their store

Just to avoid it because they throw fluids. Like while you're walking, they'll throw it on you too

In a letter sent to tenants this week, a law firm representing the management company for Edge Community Apartments blasts the person responsible, saying, quote

This act is not only a violation of your lease, it may affect the health and safety of others, but it is undoubtedly against the law

They go on to say in capital letters, please be advised that you may not dispose of or throw anything out of your apartment windows

The landlord security team will be keeping a close eye on any individual who may be partaking in the above described nuisance activity

Stop the guy. It's terrible. Like, what are we doing here? Building management says it's aware of this situation but cannot comment on active NYPD investigations

Meanwhile, the NYPD says it received a harassment report just a couple of weeks ago from a person claiming they were hit with an unknown substance from an unknown apartment window

The person was not hurt, but the mystery behind who's carrying out this dangerous act is still not solved

In the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, Richard Giacobis, Fox 5 News. Well, Newt certainly isn't the cleanest city in the country, but it's not the dirtiest

A study from House Fresh came out with a list of cities with garbage issues

New York wasn't even in the top 10, but instead Gotham was 17th on that list

The top spot goes to Baltimore, followed by Sacramento. Authors of that study say that they base the list on factors like clean drinking water

sewage disposal, litter on the streets, and missed garbage pickups. All right, that's your news block for now

Bianca Peters, thanks for joining us. Tune in to the 5 o'clock news on Fox 5 and right here on Fox Local for all the day's news as it develops

We'll see you back here tomorrow