official received the threat by e-mail. it was the same as the one received in l.a. it didn't name a specific school but threatened violence at multiple locations. parents we spoke with were sharply divided on the city's decision to keep schools open. >> i think it's foolish. >> reporter: some parents believe mayor de blasio and commissioner bratton should have played it safe. >> if there's any doubt, i think you go with closing down the schools. >> reporter: but schools can't close down for every threat, especially when one, police say, isn't credible. >> i don't think we should live in fear, so i'm totally in favor of keeping the schools open. >> reporter: another thing we heard from city officials concerned that the reaction in los angeles, the decision to copycats. we're live right now in chelsea. michael george, news4, new york. >> michael, thank you. so how does a nearly identical e-mail lead to completely different reactions in two major cities. 4 investigates has been digging

down to just a few words. chief investigative reporter here. >> how could someone claiming to be a senior in high school and that he was bullied in los angeles and new york at the same time? so the decision to close schools or not? officials had just a few hours overnight to make that call. nypd and fbi officials had doubts early on. the police commissioner said as much during his news conference today. >> significant overreaction, yes. >> reporter: in l.a., police there not second-guessing. >> it is very easy, in hindsight, to criticize the decision based on results that the decider could never have known. it is also very easy to criticize a decision when you have no responsibility for the outcome of that decision. >> reporter: but signs of a possible hoax clear. in addition to the two letters, the writer claimed he had 138

in l.a., he claimed he had 32 comrades that would help set off arms and explosives. officials say that is not very realistic. l.a. school officials might have made the call quickly, with just hours before school opening. >> to me the lapd should have been consulted. i'm not certain they were consulted. i think this was a decision made first by the school authorities, not the police. >> what we didn't do, we didn't have an adult in the room, homeland security, fbi, who said, no, no, we're taking a look at this. this is not something you need to react to. >> reporter: after the recent san bernardino shootings, some not questioning the decision. peter king who sits on the homeland security committee says there are lots of threats every day. >> sort this out to see who was going to assault and who wasn't. >> reporter: local officials have to make the best decision they can, sometimes with little time. good decisions are critical, but he also doesn't want to

saying they shouldn't be shy next time about making any safety decisions. coming up on "nbc nightly news," how these type of threats have become normal for students across america. watch for that tonight at 6:30. a health emergency at a long island high school. dozens were raced to the hospital when they suddenly got sick. the big question tonight, what caused all of this? nbc's greg cergol raced there when it happened. greg, what have you learned? >> school was shut down immediately after this incident today, and a high cool concert and basketball game have been canceled. police remain at the school at this hour, but so far investigators have yet to fully explain exactly what happened here. >> it was very scary. >> reporter: the order to evacuate west babylon high school came around noon.

fumes in the main hallway near some home economics classes. >> it was like a really strong burning sound. nobody knew what was going on so we had to get out of the building. >> brianna daugherty was one 350 students evacuated. 36 students and four adults ended up in the emergency room at nearby good samaritan hospital. >> they were dizzy, and they were, like, coughing. >> they didn't smell anything, they didn't see anything. all that happened was they could feel a burning sensation in their throat. >> reporter: fire chief peter mcardle said none of the injuries appeared to be serious, due in large part to the quick actions of school officials. >> they opened up all the windows on the first floor to disperse any problems or odors going on in the first floor of the building. >> reporter: what caused that odor remains unclear. suffolk police are going through the building, including members of the arson squad. >> i ask that anyone who has information about this incident,

county police department. this is an active investigation, and we will get to the bottom of this. >> reporter: some of the victims remain at good samaritan hospital at this hour, their injuries still being assessed. but again, those injuries are all believed to be minor in nature. as for the high school, it's unclear if it will reopen tomorrow. we're told the decision could come by about 9:00 tonight. we're live in west babylon, greg cergol cergol, news4 new york. we're following breaking news out of baltimore where a jury is deadlocked in the freddie gray death case. the judge told the panel to keep up with deliberations. he is accused of a spinal cord incident. gray suffered a spinal cord

it is said the officer ignored requests for medical attention. as you might have noticed, we broke another record today. the temperature hit 68 degrees in central park, and that was in the middle of the night, at 2:00 a.m. so how much longer could this possibly last? janice huff is here with the answer to that for us. janice? >> chuck, we are done with that for now. we have a cooler air mass in place already. temperatures started falling once we reached these record highs. and yes, they did happen at 2:00 this morning, and pretty much across the board. everybody is setting new records at 2:00 a.m. how did that happen? we have a very warm air mass coming in on southerly winds between the cold front and the warm front. so the warm front came through last night, and once that happened, the temperatures started to fall. now we're in the 50s across the area.

55 in poughkeepsie and 55 in long branch. the air mass behind it is cooler but not dreadfully cold. it's in the 40s in monticello, we see 40s in cleveland and detroit. upper 40s in chicago but above freezing. the nights will be chilly. you'll definitely feel the difference there. the days will be cooler but there is more mild air on the way. for now, though, just remember you'll probably need a heavier coat or jacket tonight than the last several. no rain in the forecast, it is dry. but there is rain coming up in a couple of days, and some even colder temperatures. we'll talk about that in the forecast, coming up in a few minutes. if you have our news4 app, just tap the weather tab. the murder of a 67-year-old jewish man is being investigated by the hate crimes unit. someone randomly punched the victim in the face on 6th avenue and 16 street in chelsea.

attacker ran off. the victim is an hacidic jew in brooklyn. they're trying to find out if hate is behind the attacks. 4 investigates found there have been seven severe injuries at the intersection of beach 19th street and sycamore boulevard in rockaway. all those incidents happened between 2010 and 2014. we learned a new traffic signal will be going up just six blocks away after a recently completed safety study. imelba nelson was struck sunday afternoon. she remains in critical condition. 23-year-old denzel washington is charged with leaving the scene of an accident and driving with a suspended license. here we go again. the republican presidential candidates are said to face off in las vegas tonight. with the poll numbers shifting, some have predicted a new

steve handelsman is in vegas for us tonight. steve? >> reporter: this is the spin room in the venetian in las vegas, where there is another new angle besides donald trump center stage. and that is chris christie back on the main stage after the break. in light of the paris attacks, the san bernardino attack, the scare in los angeles, chris christie will argue that he has the experience needed to fight terrorism after his tenure as mayor of new jersey following 9/11. that said, attention is sure to be on the fiery republican frontrunner and his top contender, ted cruz. ted cruz comes to las vegas leading in iowa polls and closing in on donald trump in national republican surveys. at the debate tonight, in this hall in the venetian hotel at center stage, trump and cruz

cruz expects attacks as a senior aide. trump showed his temper last night when his rally was interrupted. >> get him out. >> trump supporters cursed, one with a nazi salute. gop insider said trump attacks the texan tonight. >> ted cruz is easing in on his territory. he's the outsider, he's the flair flavor of the month, he's the guy with altogether moment l the momentum. >> marco rubio is ready for a matchup with hillary clinton. donald trump claims he's heard everyone will go after him. >> i said, man, this is, like, crazy. who is going to attack trump first? >> reporter: in a debate that comes on the same day, los angeles went on alert. the focus is sure to be on the

republican insiders said ted cruz sees a political danger in attacking donald trump. cruz, they say, figuring he needs to win over trump's supporters. live from las vegas, steve handelsman, news4, new york. still ahead here on news4 new york at 5:00, a mysterious death in brooklyn just revealed one month after the woman was found. the funeral home discovery that turned this into a homicide investigation. and a lawsuit filed against the popular hair product wen. what hundreds of women are claiming about that product. looking for an uber ride for free?

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just kochling in. a judge has denied the motion of having jurors revisit the scene of where a child disappeared in the retrial of pedro hernandez. he's the man who is said to have killed etan patz years ago. his first trial ended in a

his new trial is set for february. people left to freeze in their apartments? this is an allegation the city is facing. >> it's all part of a lawsuit filed today, but they say this is absolutely not the case. andrew siff is in queens to explain. >> reporter: even though it's been warm for days and days, the contents of this lawsuit are pretty bone-chilling. it alleges, the lawsuit does, that there was an e-mail sent from a high-powered executive suggesting that as long as the temperature is above 20 degrees, then it would be okay for nycha to turn off the heat, turn off the boilers after 10:00 p.m. at night. nycha has nearly 3,000 housing complexes. we talked to the general manager tonight and he said the allegations in that lawsuit are absolutely untrue. >> there was a broken part rather than a decision to turn something off. so i think that's something

research on, we're continuing to look at ways that throughout the winter the clients are as warm as they can possibly be, but there are more facts that still need to come out. >> reporter: again, nycha saying there is no merit to the lawsuit. that's not the only major question nycha had to answer today. there was a rumor out that nycha doesn't know where all its generators are, generators that would be used in power outages or in hurricane and see blizzards. what do they have to say about that? that story is coming up on news at 6:00. let's get right to this weather. he's talking about freezing cold temperatures inside apartments, janice, but it is so warm outside, i think a lot of people are craving some christmas weather around here. >> well, if you're looking for cooler temperatures, we've got that in the forecast for you, too. that is coming up in a few days.

above average even though it's cooler than it has been the past several days. these are highs but they occurred before the sun came up this morning, around 2:00 in the morning, with 68 in the city. a surge of warm air coming in ahead of that cold front. most of these are records, too. now the air mass is cooler across the area, but so far this december, the average temperature is up to 51 and almost 51.5 degrees. it's 11.3 degrees above the average for the month. the warmest december on record, we're already beating that at 44.1. if it stays like this, this will be the warmest december on record. we are seeing some rain come in on thursday. hopefully that will help things out. another story was all the wind across the area. gusts at 34 miles an hour this afternoon, 33 in the city. that wind will begin to relax later on tonight. i mentioned the rain that's coming. the temperatures will begin to cool down, and by the weekend,

the holidays. 54 in ringwood, all 50s in islip. cool spot right now is monticello in the mid-40s across your area. last night we had that strong south wind coming in. that's what helped things warm up. now we have a warm westerly wind. it's coming in cooler but it's still strong. some gusts around 36 miles an hour in white plains, 21 miles an hour in poughkeepsie, so it's still blustery. the canadian maritimes are getting some snow there. we're starting to see some sprinkles on that northwesterly flow in the catskills. temperatures, as we track them, will fall into the 30s later tonight around monticello. most areas will stay above freezing except in your case, in

conos tomorrow night. it will abe cool day tomorrow, in the upper 40s and lower 50s. we have 30s on the map pretty much on the outside of the city, and temperatures will be in the 40s overnight. the wind does die down, so it's a little cooler for you. connecticut 50 in the afternoon, and the high temperature in the city tomorrow, 52. we really need the rain thursday. and the cool weather, that's coming up this week. still no word of when the nuclear factor power generator is going to be on line.

ebe sham teamed up with uber. uber will take people home from bars and restaurants in each township between 9:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. ebesham's mayor says he's seen a 66 percent perhaps. >> and the long-time weather man got a special journey just outside ourd building. >> renaming rockefeller plaza on this particular block this morning, willard scott way. >> willard has been part of the nbc family for 65 years. he started out as an nbc page. >> along with delivering the weather along the way, willard became known for helping older

birthdays, right on the smucker jars. >> we were working in boston, and we had a magician's head. when he took it off, he didn't know that it. much more ahead as we continue on news4 at 5:00. many of you are reading about this on line, an elaborate elaborate.

ate homeless man is facing charges for digging a cave in a park for a shelter. some found the 15-foot-deep hole just a few hundred yards from the fairfax police department. the 25-year-old used a hammer. it had a bedroom and living room area. they also found papers and books that looked like homework. >> he was studying several topics, from what it looked like, on his property. >> he actually took steps to change his life and made his own little home where he could study. >> police removed all of ruiz' things. he is now charged with defacing property. former subway pitchman jared is appealing his 15-year sentence. the prosecutors decided not to

bars, but the judge felt that wasn't enough for the severity of his crimes. a 21-year-old man made a hack on vtech. they disclosed the hack earlier this month. 604 million child profiles were confiscated, as well as parent information. they're still in the early stages of their investigation. the collapse of the twin towers on 9/11 has finally found a permanent home. today it was moved from the troll trolley station in new york. if this weather doesn't do a whole lot to get you in the new year's eve spirit, maybe this will help. the famous 17-foot-tall lights

they will complete their journey to the top of 1 times square later this week. >> 2016 right around the corner. natalie is here now with a look at what's coming up new at 5:30. >> that's right, 5:30. shiba, chuck, we're protecting our citizens. news4 responds to a plot targeting the superstitious. plus this -- the killing of an elderly woman in brooklyn now just being investigated by police. why the delay in this investigation, and are they any closer to finding a suspect? plus we'll have the big change mayor de blasio is making to fight the growing

you'd be surprised how easy it is to get a good low-cost health plan! you might even get help paying for it! go to nystateofhealth.ny.gov or call 1-855-355-5777 deadline extended