Shapiro (now with Yahoo Finance) Sue Simmons Dr. Ian Smith Liz Smith Tom Snyder Scott Stanford (now with WPIX and WWE Network) Howard Stern (now a talk show radio host) Carl Stokes Mike Taibbi (now with PBS NewsHour) Felicia Taylor Bob Teague Melba Tolliver (later at News 12 Long Island) Katy Tur (now with MSNBC and NBC News) Sibila Vargas (now with WSPA-TV) Jonathan Vigliotti (now with CBS News) Glen Walker Chris Wallace (now moderator of Fox News Sunday) Jim Watkins (later with WPIX and WTNH) Rolonda Watts (now the on-camera announcer for Divorce Court) Mary Alice Williams (later with NJTV) Joe Witte (now at Goddard Spaceflight Center) Bill Wolff (staff announcer) Lew Wood Controversies and incidents Chopper 4 helicopter crashes 1998 saw the introduction of a brand-new Chopper 4, a brand new Eurocopter EC135 that the station heavily promoted. But the new chopper ended up crashing into the Passaic River near Harrison and Newark on December 3, 1998; reporter Kai Simonsen and pilot Terry Hawes survived. Hence, the older model, a Eurocopter AS350, was returned to service and remained until May 4, 2004, when it crashed while covering a shooting in Brooklyn. Reporter Andrew Torres, pilot Russ Cowry and pilot trainee Hassan Taan survived the crash and were taken to area hospitals. The crash occurred at about 6:30 p.m. as the crew was preparing for a live report from the scene of a shooting in East Flatbush. Before the cut-in, Chopper 4 appeared to begin a steep nosedive. WABC's own helicopter captured the initial nosedive and the chopper's subsequent tailspin until crashing into a rooftop. 2008 weeknight infomercial issue On March 25, 2008, WNBC carried a paid program leading into NBC's Tuesday night prime time and after the 7:00 p.m. newscast for mortgage lender Lend America, replacing that night's Access Hollywood. Several 'Big Four' stations throughout the United States had carried paid programs leading into prime time in a period during the Great Recession to some varied controversy (and often do to this day during Saturday evenings, a little-trafficked time period with no complaint), but the one airing in New York of the Lend America infomercial, which was hosted by ex-WNBC reporter Joe Avellar, attracted massive criticism from viewers and local media critics, especially involving Avellar's role as host and Lend America's part in the housing crisis, and to a much lesser extent, preemption of regular weeknight programming. Earning