True safety value from blocked streets. As you know, the path, new jersey tran sit, lirr, theyre beefing up service as a precaution. Theyre adding extra trains, specifically on friday. Things have already changed, specifically around penn station. Over my shoulder, you can see the taxi stand thats usually very crowded at this hour. Only one taxi to speak of. Most of the people weve seen around here so far, nypd, some mta workers, and the people getting ready for the papal mass at Madison Square garden on friday. Thats really what has people concerned. Were going to talk to commuters about how they plan to navigate that coming up. All right. We want to talk to lauren about the specifics on some of these closures. I want to mention that i wrote a guide to navigating penn station for tomorrows commute if you want to go on nbcnewyork. Com. You can get all the information there. Closures are already out there right now, especially in midtown. You can see right here, 51st those shut down at st. Patricks cathedral starting at midnight. You have all the cross streets from 55th down to 47th closed between 6th and madison. 5th avenue also shut down. This will reopen at 6 00 a. M. The side streets here, the cross streets, theyll be reduced to one lane. Its not like its going to really help the traffic all that much. Still the spot to avoid. From 10 00 a. M. To 9 00 p. M. , all of this shuts down again. At 2 00 p. M. We add madison avenue into the mix. This entire area around st. Patricks cathedral, around 30 rock, its the spot to avoid. It will have pedestrian restrictions as well. You will not be able to walk through here around the time of the evening commute. So certainly the spots to avoid. The police, they can shut down any roadway at any time. We also have closures further east of here for the u. N. General assembly. Of course, well continue to keep you updated on all of it. All of these maps are on nbcnewyork. Com. Okay, lauren. Thank you. 4 36 right now. While the anticipation is building here, pope francis does have a busy day before he even leaves for new york. David ushery has more. Reporter michael, darlene, from the president to the people, pope francis likes to talk about points of encounter, engagement, both in a pastoral sense and also with a good, warm handshake or a hug from a child. We saw all of it yesterday in his first full day in the united states. From the moment he left the Diplomatic Mission where he was staying, School Children out there, and he took a little extra time with them. Then of course he heads to the white house, pulls up in that fiat, and the president and the first lady are beaming. He speaks in english out of a sign of respect. Hed been practicing for a while. Then he hops into the pope mobile and moves through washington, d. C. , to the delight of thousands. A little girl managed to get past the barricade, give him a tshirt. He asked security to bring her to him. He did refer to them as his brother bishops. A more sobering talk, perhaps, but nevertheless trying to show sol solidarity. Then he came here to the basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception for the canonization. A bit controversial with native americans because they say he mistreated them in the past. Certainly a joyful celebration here, mark manager the first canonization on u. S. Soil. Now, later today he heads to congress. Hell address a joint meeting of congress. About 30 of congress identifies as catholic, but they dont all agree with him. So many will be listening to hear what he has to say, and of course he then heads to new york city later this afternoon, and i will be there with you. Michael, darlene, back to you. Darlene, great work in cuba, obviously. Ive told you too many times, your head is going to start to get a little big. David is too sweet. Its pouring in from all over. Thats very, very nice. David is the best in the business. We love our colleague. He does a great job as well. Appreciate that. Thank you. Its 4 38. Students at one local high school are ready to perform for the pope today. 44 musicians in the High School Jazz band will be playing when pope francis lands at Kennedy Airport today. Theyve also performed for pope benedict. No pressure though, right . Right. Meanwhile, students at an east Harlem School also prepared for their big moment with pope francis. They held a dress rehearsal. 24 kids were selected from across the diocese to meet with the holy father there tomorrow. Theyve spent weeks preparing. Students also made a spiritual bouquet made of messages from thousands of students who cant be there in person. I think its an honor for me francis and to be able to represent all the schools in our diocese of new york. The students will likely be speaking to the pope about the environment and how theyre learning to care for it. Four principals are also expected to meet with the holy father. From the moment the holy father lands, well have live coverage. Remember, you can still watch any time, anywhere, just download the nbc 4 new york app. We have some breaking news now from the middle east. There was a bomb attack on a crowded mosque in yemens capital sanaa. Many Houthi Rebels were thought to be inside observing a holiday. Right now no one is claiming responsibility for the attack. Also new this morning, police are trying to find the man in this surveillance video. They say he opened fire on a passing car in brooklyn. Take a look. It happened earlier this month near Sterling Place in crown heights. Police say the man fired several shots at the car. No one is injured. If you have information, youre asked to give police a call. Also new this morning, a man is now facing charges in the murder of the taxi driver in the bronx. Police say 24yearold Nicholas Sanchez is the passenger who shot and killed 39yearold barry mamadou. He was found in his car at east 189th street. This father of four was shot in the head. Happening today, the family of yogi berra will be speaking about his legacy at his museum in little falls, new jersey. Tributes have been pouring in at the statue outside the museum. Today the family will likely lay out funeral plans. Yogi berra will be laid to rest next to his wife in east hanover, new jersey. Hes never been the same since carmen died, his wife. He loved her so much. They had been together forever. He loved her more than baseball. Its obviously a sad day but a day to celebrate 90 extraordinary years and a real part of our culture. The Empire State Building also paid tribute to yogi. It was lit up in yankee pinstripes to honor the man that rose to fame in baseball but transcended the sport. Really did. He was an american hero. He really was. Really just a fantastic new york icon as well. Leaves so much for us to remember him by. He really does. 4 42 right now. Ahead, the message to parents about what to expect during the holy fathers visit. Plus, the painting princes. Coming up a little later, why Prince William and prince harry put in some hard work for a good cause. And were officially in fall, but dont expect a big cooldown any time soon. Weather and traffic on the 4s coming up as we look at the Alexander Hamilton bridge. Follow us on facebook and twitter. Wow, Time Warner Cable really upgraded their network. 300 meg internet, clearer picture. I know, we get almost 20,000 movies and shows on demand. Our new dvr records six shows at once. Why didnt we switch sooner . Right . Everythings better. [bad violin playing] well, almost everything. Were making things better. Enhanced dvr, nearly 20,000 on demand titles, and up to 300 meg internet. Including free wifi at home and on the go. Switch today and ask how you 4 44. Time to check weather and traffic on the 4s. I heard you mention first day of fall. I said, what . What happened when you were gone . Its here. If youre in the suburbs, theyre really feeling this morning. By this afternoon, as you were pointing out, its not really going to feel like fall. Back near 80 degrees. Thats where we were yesterday. I think we do it again today. Outside in the city, pretty comfortable. 61 degrees. The sky is nice and clear. Its going to stay nice and clear throughout the day today. As i said, temperatures will jump back through the 70s to near 80 before the day is through. Weather headlines, great weather continuing. The popes visit is going to be dry and comfortable. Weekend looks dry. May get a little breezy with a storm system offshore. Could be windy in particular up against the coast. Looks like the rain stays away. Chilly to the north and west. Oakland, new jersey, 48 degrees. A lot of 40s well to the north and west. Nearby suburbs generally 50s. Chilliest spot is morristown at 41. 20 degrees warmer in the city right now at 61 degrees. But that still feels nice and cool. Meantime, high clouds drifting off to the south of us from that disturbance sitting well to the south. Thats where its going to stay for a while. Generally clear sky covering the entire tristate right now. We may see high clouds mix in here and there. Future tracker shows 1 00 this afternoon looking good. Upon the popes arrival and into the evening hours, its fine and dry. Tomorrow we start to bring in a few more clouds. More of a partly cloudy to at times cloudy sky by the end of the day. That system stays offshore over the weekend. What you cant see here is the stronger wind developing. Could be a bit of beach erosion that goes on with a prolonged easterly fetch. But thats about it. So for the popes visit this evening, leaving d. C. To jfk, looking at a temperature arrival of about 78 degrees with a mostly sunny sky. Very nice, very comfortable. Again, over to st. Patricks we go later this evening. Picture perfect, 76 degrees. Very comfortable conditions. Some of the areas tomorrow, United Nations early on, 64. Well call it partly sunny. Same thing at the 9 11 memorial. 70 degrees at that point. The central park trip will be the longest one out in public. 73 degrees with a partly cloudy sky. Should be nice and comfortable. The rest of your sevenday forecast, which goes into the weekend, 74, windy on saturday with varying amounts of clouds. Same thing for sunday. Still windy on monday. Still a fair amount of clouds clinging to the area. Then it warms up again. Tuesday and wednesday next week, back near 80 with sunshine. Lauren scala is here to tell us how to navigate around all of this. Whats going on . Stay home. No, just kidding. We had an accident on the major deegan that shut down all lanes northbound by 149th street. Thats since cleared. This is northbound on route 17 just before you get to century road in the right lane. Lets talk about some of the closures. We have a lot of streets shut down in midtown already. The Upper East Side closures are beginning this morning at 8 00 a. M. Theyll stay out there until saturday at 10 00 a. M. That affects 72nd street and 71st between madison and 5th. Overnight well see more closures as the pope is in residence. We also have the u. N. General assembly closures. That affects the east side. A bunch of cross streets from 44th to 46th. When the pope arrives later, you could see the fdr shut down. Hes scheduled to arrive at about 5 00 p. M. And come from the heliport in lower manhattan. That will greatly affect the evening commute. We still have fast track out there on the f. That should be wrapped up at 5 00 a. M. Alternate side of the Street Parking rules are suspended today. Back to you. All right, lauren. Thank you. Now to the impact from pope francis visit. Fences line 5th avenue. The tight security has some parents wondering how theyll get their kids to school. Lori bordonaro is in midtown. Reporter right now were being kept about five blocks away from st. Patricks cathedral, a good part of 5th avenue is shut down. You can see the barriers here set up. You can also see that eightfoot fence put up here as well. Thousands of people here expected to line the streets today to see the pope. Hell be at st. Patricks cathedral at about 6 30 tonight. Crews have been prepping around the clock. Theyve been getting ready to put up risers outside of the church. Many streets around 51st and 5th already shut down as lauren has been mentioning all morning. Some schools planning to close tomorrow. All of new york city Catholic Schools as well as fieldston, riverdale, and horace mann in many are wondering how theyll navigate. Going to be hectic. Going to be crazy. Being that i work for the city, for mta, its going to be tough to get around. Reporter one school actually sent a letter to parents advising them to give their kids extra snacks on the bus in case they get stuck in gridlock for hours. Back to you. All right. Lori, thank you. Coming up on 4 50. Tonight president obama hosts chinese president xi jinping for a state dinner at the white house. Right now xi is in seattle. Thats where he met wednesday with several business industry leaders. You saw Mark Zuckerberg there. He promised to open Chinese Markets to them. Many of them called on china to protect american trade secrets. That issue likely to come up with president obama and president xi meet tomorrow. Police now releasing sketches of three people wanted in an alleged hate crime in midtown. They allegedly yelled antigay was having dinner with her mother. Police say they threw the victim to the ground, dragged her across the floor, and took off. She is not seriously injured. Police confiscated laundry bags filled with synthetic marijuana after a raid in the bronx. The nypd, dea, Homeland Security worked together to haul as much as 2 million bags of k2 from a home in park chester. Authorities say the bus was a continuation from a k2 takedown last week. No word of any arrests. In queens, several special needs adults are now recovering after the bus they were riding in hit a car. Chopper 4 was over the scene just after 3 00 p. M. Yesterday. This happened on wood haven boulevard and 81st street. This is in forest hills. Eight people had to be treated for cuts and bruises at the hospital. Nobody was arrested. 4 51 right now. Happening today, ten more suspects due in court in connection with the hazing death Chun Michael Deng died two years ago. Today ten pi Delta Fraternity members will be arraigned. Police plan to arrest 37 men in all. Five of them are expected to face murder charges. Coming up on 4 52. Still to come, its one of the biggest mysteries in our history, and in just a few minutes, we could get some big answers about it. And its one field trip they will never forget. The local students who will get to witness history today. Welcome back. 4 54. 61 degrees out. Chilly thursday morning. It really is. Good thing the pope has easy pass. Doesnt have to go to the cash lane when hes coming in from kennedy. It would take a long time. Its complicated. Vatican stamps. The toll booth operator would be really annoy. Enough with this. Im sure hell be fine. And the weather really cooperating for this visit. When you think about this time of year, could get a little dicey. Could be chilly, damp, and rainy. Not the case today. Its a chilly start, but it warms up nicely to a high of 81 degrees. Into the evening, very pleasant. Overnight, about 63 in the city. Just patchy cloud rolling back in, 40s and 50s in the suburbs. Maybe a few more clouds in the sky tomorrow. Again, temperatures back down into the 70s for the pope. Itll be very comfortable to be out and about. Very nice. All right, chris, thanks. Lauren, youre going to be out there as well later on. Ill actually be here kind of holding down, making sure everything is okay. We have a lot of people on the ground. We have a lot of street closures already. Were going to talk about the trains. Everything is running on or close to schedule so far for your major commuter lines. No extra service is in place today. Its all for tomorrow. For people trying to get into the city tomorrow, metro north, long island railroad, new Jersey Transit will all have Additional Service for you to do that or to get out of the city. Well continue to keep you updated. Today, everything as far as mass transit goes is running on its regular schedule and thankfully on time. All right, lauren. Thank you. Officials in california say the wildfire burning north of San Francisco has caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage, but theyre still trying to determine an exact figure. That fire and another in Northern California has already killed six people, destroyed nearly 2,000 structures, and left 3,000 people homeless. Here in new york, Edward Snowden will speak to a group by satellite from moscow. Hes calling for a new International Treaty that would protect whistleblowers and protect people from government surveillance. Releasing secret nsa documents. Theres a new effort to help the homeless. Mayor b de blasio and Cardinal Dolan announced the archdiocese will house up to 150 people. What we have found through real experience is that a smaller, more intimate, more supportive setting will actually draw people off the streets and to where they can get help. The beds will be at archdiocese own facilities across the city. Theyre hoping to have an extra 500 beds by this winter. Even britains royal family not immune from a little sibling rivalry. Prince harry and Prince William helped renovate some homes for british veterans. William did some painting. Harry put some concrete slabs in place. Apparently that sparked some competition. William is doing a bit of painting, but harry wasnt pleased with williams painting. So harry came in and touched his painting up for him. A bit of rivalry there. Before the royal brothers started their work, william said to harry, game on. Thats great. At any minute, we could finally learn the truth behind that mysterious smile. Scientists in italy plan to announce who mona lisa really is. Bones were recently dug up in florence. Scientists were trying to find the remains of lisa, the wife of a merchant. She died in 1542. Shes thought to be the subject of leonardo da vincis masterpiece. Fascinating. Coming up on 5 00 a. M. If youre about to head out the door, take us with you. Keep watching today in new york by downloading the news 4 new york app on your mobile device. Our next hour starts right now. Ready for the pope. Plus a closer look at the ripple effects on the commute because of the popes arrival. And were going to tell you exactly what the pope will be doing as soon as he does touch down here in new york. Today in new york starts now. Good morning, everybody. Im michael gargiulo. Im darlene rodriguez. Chris cimino is here with the forecast. Good morning. Good morning, darlene and michael. A chilly start in the suburbs. Seeing a lot of 40s and lower 50s. In the city, were in the lower 60s. Sunshine will own the sky today, allowing temperatures back into the upper 70s and low 80s today. Will be cooler on the eastfacing shorelines. Right now in the city, 62 degrees. Jackets needed north and west with temperatures there quite a bit cooler. By noontime, 77. Nothing more than a few high clouds mixing with that beautiful sunshine and a high of 81 degrees. Almost 5 00 a. M. Lets find out about the Early Morning commute. Lauren . We have a new accident on the roads. Well talk about that first. Well head to truck route 19. An accident in the right lane. You can see some delays through here. Some place youre not going to see any delays, because those street closures have already begun, is 5th avenue. Heres a live look. You can see all those nypd tow trucks. You can see everything shut down out there with the exception of the emergency vehicles. 5th avenue already closed from 55th street down to 47th as well as many cross streets in this area. So well continue to keep you updated on all of that. Its going to be a tough day to get around the city. Back to you. All right, lauren. Thanks very much. Now to the papal visit. Months of anticipation and planning, it all leads up to today. Just about 12 hours from now, pope francis will land here in new york. We have Team Coverage of what to expect today, how its going to impact traffic. Were going to start with katherine creag. Shes got a stepbystep look at what the holy fathers going to be doing while he arrives here. A lot in a short period of time. Reporter indeed, michael. Whats going on here, where he will be staying. This is looking down 72nd street. You can see those big roadblocks, those heavy duty roadblocks that have already been set up. A huge portion of 72nd street near madison avenue already closed off. At 5 00 this afternoon, thats when pope francis arrives at Kennedy Airport. 200 people will be there, including catholic School Children and clergy. The pope will travel then by helicopter, arriving at the wall street heliport. Hell be at st. Patricks cathedral around 6 30, 6 45 for evening prayers. The pope is scheduled to depart st. Patricks cathedral at 7 45 in the evening and travel here where hell stay here for two nights. All over manhattan theres so much security in place because the pope has so many events through saturday morning. We saw Police Commissioner bratton during a security run through at st. Patricks cathedral. The popes procession through central park on friday, a plans on giving away some of the tickets she received from relatives. I have 11 tickets, and im going to give them to anyone that i meet on the street. Reporter and where we are here, as in many spots across manhattan, one of the most secure places in the city, east 72nd street, as we mentioned, right by madison avenue. Obviously closed off, but this whole area between park and 5th avenue is already closed off. You can expect road closures, as lauren has been mentioning, throughout the day. Back to you. People are really going to see a change, at least for the next 48 hours. Anks so much. This morning theres a new study out that shows the ripple ,effect of the popes visit on the traffic in manhattan. Tracie strahan is at penn station with that. Good morning. Reporter good morning to you. Its hard to believe, but only minor disruptions are predicted, specifically on the subway, according to that report. Theres no doubt penn station is expected to be a lot more congested than usual. The commuter wes spoke with, even at this early hour, are aware of whats on the horizon. This is a report that was actually compiled by the center for transportation at nyu. Iter says penn station should be able to handlr any spike in ridership because of the apal visit. As a result, the lirr, new Jersey Transit, and the subways plan on adding more trains today and tomorrow. This is the biggest security detail the nypd has seen specifically around this area. Commuters we spoke with said theyre seeing it as well. Ive seen heavy police and Law Enforcement presence around the city thats more obvious than usual. Reporter more obvious than usual that things are a little more desolate around penn station already. Its unclear if people got the memo and have chosen to stay home or if theyre just delaying their commute. We spoke with one man downstairs, darlene, that says hes been here for president ial visits, and hes never seen this level of security or this level of transportation changes. Well have more on that, of course, comine up in our next half hour