John Slattery Laid To Rest

CBS 2's Tony Aiello reports on the funeral for his colleague John Slattery, which was held today at Saints John and Paul Church in Larchmont:

"And let perpetual light shine upon him..." pic.twitter.com/oGQpDZ3Vc0
— Tony Aiello (@AielloTV) September 30, 2014

"John didn't dabble in his faith. He lived it daily" - Msgr Thomas Petrillo pic.twitter.com/HTh32cWz4m
— Tony Aiello (@AielloTV) September 30, 2014

Lots of Breaking News: Ferry Crash and Crane Collapse

It was a busy day for breaking news in New York.

CBS 2 broke in after a commuter ferry crashed into Pier 11 at South Street Seaport at around 8:45 a.m..  Mary Calvi handled the early coverage and was soon joined by Rob Morrison.  Jim Smith reported from above the scene in Chopper 2 and, because of a chopper sharing agreement with Fox 5, Smith was also heard reporting "in SkyFox."

John Slattery reported from the pier via Mobile 2 signal by 10:22.  At 10:51, Sean Hennessey was live at New York Downtown Hospital, where around 20 of the injured had been taken, and the camera showed very close-up images of patients being loaded off ambulances.  Dr. Max Gomez later joined the coverage from the desk with analysis on what types of injuries might have been suffered.

As if often the case during special report situations lately, WLNY switched to airing CBS network programming, so viewers looking for "Let's Make a Deal" and "The Price is Right" didn't miss their shows if they knew where to look.  CBS 2 ended their special report at 11:30 and included more coverage during the regular noon newscast with reports from Slattery, Hennessey, Gomez as well as Tony Aiello in the newsroom and Steve Langford at the scene.

CBS 2 News interrupted regular programming again just before 3:00 with news of a 380-foot crane collapse in Long Island City, Queens.  Dana Tyler handled the brief special report with Chopper 2 coverage from Joe Biermann.  The station switched to "Dr. Phil" at 3:04.

CBS 2 broke in once again at 4:15 to carry an NTSB press conference with coverage anchored by Maurice DuBois until 4:30.

CBS 2 News Covers Pope Benedict XVI's U.S. Arrival

Pope Benedict XVI's airplane arrived at Maryland's Andrews Air Force Base a few minutes ahead of schedule, pushing up CBS 2's coverage. Originally planned to start at 4:00 p.m., CBS 2's special report kicked off at 3:52, making it the first local station on the air (the others started at the top of the hour).

Chris Wragge and Kristine Johnson anchored the report and spoke over live video of the pope's arrival ceremony. They were joined at the desk by Father Joseph Chapel of Seton Hall University's Immaculate Conception Seminary. Mary Calvi reported live from Washington, D.C. in front of the Catholic University and spoke with Father Mike Russo, a professor at St. Mary's College. She was later joined by the Catholic University's Frank Persico. John Slattery also reported from Washington and Tony Aiello was live at St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, where the pope will visit Friday afternoon. The lower-third graphic during the live coverage provided all sorts of biographical and historical information but also reported that Pope Benedict XVI plays the piano, listens to Mozart and Beethoven, and is the first pope to own an iPod.

CBS 2 News at 5:00 began at its usual time (4:58) with a special pope-related opening. Calvi, Slattery and Aiello returned to provide live reports and Sean Hennessey also reported live from the Flatiron District with how the city's subways are stepping up security. Pablo Guzman, Jennifer McLogan and Scott Rapoport contributed packages related to the pope's New York visit. Lonnie Quinn came on in the third block of the newscast with an abbreviated weather forecast. After a recap of the papal top stories, the 5:30 half-hour covered the rest of the day's news. Lonnie Quinn's forecast at 5:50 included "Weather for Papal Visit," a summary of the weather for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

At 6:00, Dana Tyler and Jim Rosenfield continued with more coverage of the pope. Calvi, Slattery and Hennessey were back with live reports and Hazel Sanchez, live at St. Patrick's Cathedral, joined the team. Rosenfield reported on the first time a pope visited the United States back in 1965, with appearances by Bill Plante and Harry Reasoner. It was the first time in recent memory that an entire black-and-white package has aired on CBS 2 News. The 6:00 newscast returned to the rest of the news in the second block.

CBS 2 News Covers the Nor'easter

CBS 2 News brought in some big names to cover the big storm tonight.

Regular weekend evening anchor Mary Calvi was joined by weekend evening anchor Jim Rosenfield at the desk in Studio 46. Meteorologist John Bolaris had the forecast in the weather center and reported that, as of 6:30, 5.51 inches of rain had fallen in Central Park, making it the wettest day in 30 years and the sixth wettest day of all-time. He tossed to weatherman Lonnie Quinn in Lindenhurst on Long Island. Brendan Keefe reported from Grand Central Terminal, with the news that Metro North service was suspended and added that, had this been snow, it could have been more than 40 inches. Christine Sloan reported from Secaucus, Westchester reporter Tony Aiello was in Larchmont, Dave Carlin was in Freeport and Lou Young was in Greenwich, CT. Elizabeth Hur (whose name was shortened to Liz on the graphic and by Mary Calvi's script) reported in the second block from LaGuardia Airport and CBS Newspath's Bianco Solorzano was live in Sea Bright, NJ.

Storm coverage continued until 6:55, interrupted only by two commercial breaks. CBS 2 then reported a non-weather story: an update on the health of New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine. Ducis Rodgers then did sports before the 6:30 p.m. newscast closed.

The coverage felt similar to that of snowstorms, except that the live shots looked more like TV news coverage of hurricanes with the wet and blurry camera lenses. A ticker ran across the bottom of the screen with additional information.

CBS 2 News This Morning will begin an hour early at 4:00 a.m. tomorrow with storm coverage.