WNBC, the NBC owned station in New York City, has expanded its 11 p.m. newscast to a full hour on Sundays.

The expanded broadcast debuted Sunday. A spokesperson for the station said weekend anchors David Ushery and Erika Tarantal will continue to anchor the newscast.

WNBC reporter Jonathan Vigliotti spent the night with a family in Breezy Point, Queens, where a large portion of the residents are still without power, heat or running water a month after Hurricane Sandy (video above).

Vigliotti bunked with a couple and their dog, who have been sleeping in sleeping bags, using lanterns for light and flushing their toilets with bottled water. Many homes in the Breezy Point neighborhood were destroyed when a fire ripped through the town during the Hurricane, but Vigliotti reports the residents still have a positive attitude.

“They realize they have lost so much, but they are fortunate, they say,” he said.

New York stations were prepping their morning newscasts Thursday morning when Lindsay Lohan was arrested in Chelsea for allegedly assaulting a woman at a nightclub shortly after 4amET.

WCBS and WABC both reported the news at 5:33 a.m. WCBS reported the actress was “being questioned in an altercation.” WBAC reported Lohan has been arrested and said a WABC crew was on the way to the police station.

WNBC and WNYW both reported the news at 5:41 a.m., with WNBC citing TMZ. WPIX, reporting the news at 5:42 a.m., already had Mike Gilliam live from the 10th precinct in Chelsea, the first reporter on the scene. Read more

During his weather forecast at the top of the 4 a.m. newscast Monday morning, WABC meteorologist Bill Evans did a double take at what was airing in one of the screens behind him (above left).

That’s because, if you look closely, the programming is the early-morning newscast on rival WNBC, anchored by Darlene Rodriguez and Michael Gargiulo. And it didn’t end there: before switching to a map, WABC showed WNBC’s programming full, taking a live shot of WNBC meteorologist Chris Cimino during his weather forecast (above right, with Evans’ lower-third banner still up). Read more

Michael Gargiulo stepped away from the WNBC anchor desk on Wednesday to visit Breezy Point, a beachfront area of Queens that was devastated during Hurricane Sandy. Gargiulo, whose parents own a home there, provided emotional coverage from the fire-ravaged town.

• Related, TVNewser: ABC Producers Ride Out Storm in Fire-Ravaged Breezy Point

“You try to brace yourself for what you’re going to see, but I just could not brace myself for what I encountered here,” Gargiulo told Tom Llamas and Shiba Russell. “I’ve been coming here my entire life. I have to tell you, I just didn’t recognize where I was here in Breezy Point.”

“I have covered tornadoes, I have covered hurricanes and earthquakes. And not that these disasters are in competition with each other, but it’s shocking to see the impact on the people in the community. You see it here, and it is really sobering to see this devastation,” Garguilo continued, his voice thick with emotion. “And still in Breezy Point, two American flags still flying in the distance. And that’s Breezy Point for you.”

Stations in New York City have partially returned to regular programming today after several days of breaking news coverage of Hurricane Sandy. The five major local stations in New York City — ABC O&O WABC, NBC O&O WNBC, CBS O&O WCBS, Fox O&O WNYW and CW affiliate WPIX — had all returned to regular programming by Wednesday morning. The stations continue to break in to regular programming for press conferences from New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and New York governor Andrew Cuomo.

• Related, TVNewser: Kurtz: Sandy ‘Lived Up To The Media Hype’

During the storm, WABC captured particularly compelling video of one of the Sandy’s most dramatic moments — the evacuation of 215 critical care patients, including the neonatal and pediatric intensive care units, from NYU Langone Medical Center after its backup generator failed. Watch:

Hurricane Sandy is approaching the Tri-State area at this hour, and the high winds are already wreaking havoc on New York City. Shortly before 3pmET, stations reported on a crane collapse in midtown Manhattan. The crane, perched on top of a high-end residential building currently under construction, is currently dangling off the high-rise building.

• Related, TVNewser: Tropical Storm Force Winds Begin Taking Toll on New York City, Crane Dangles 90 Stories Up

WABC was the first station to report the news at 2:44 p.m. WCBS was next at 2:46, followed by WNBC at 2:50 and WPIX at 2:53.

The WCBS studio, located on 57th Street between 10th and 11th Avenues, is just down the street from the crane collapse site, 57th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues. More pictures after the jump. Read more

WNBC‘s newest general assignment reporter, Checky Beckford, is having a memorable first day at the New York City NBC O&O.

Beckford made her debut this morning, reporting live on Hurricane Sandy from Long Beach. Morning anchor Michael Gargiulo introduced her during the 7amET hour, saying, “What a debut you’re making, Checky.”

“Not the most flattering appearance, guys,” Beckford said. “The wind slapping me in my face, the rain coming down hard. It’s extremely hard to stand here now as each hour goes by.”

Beckford comes from KOVR in Sacramento, where it is 61 degrees and sunny today.

Stations in major markets across the East Coast chose to preempt, or partially preempt, network morning shows Monday to remain in extended local coverage of Hurricane Sandy.

In New York City, where the subways and buses have been shut down since Sunday night, the local stations all began live storm coverage at 4amET. NBC O&O WNBC went to “Today” at 7 a.m. and returned to local programming at 7:30 a.m. WCBS aired only the first hour of “CBS This Morning,” and WABC aired “Good Morning America” in its entirety.

• Related, TVNewser: 50 Million in Sandy’s Path, a ‘Worst Case Scenario’ Monster Storm 
• Related, FishbowlNY: WCBS Brings in ‘A’ Team for Hurricane Sandy Coverage

In Philadelphia, KYW joined “CBS This Morning” a few minutes after 7 a.m. and continued its local newscast on CW affiliate WPSG. WCAU aired the first half hour of “Today” and returned to local coverage at 7:30 a.m., and WPVI aired “Good Morning America.” Read more

As you may have heard, Hurricane Sandy is taking aim at the Eastern Seaboard and has the potential to merge with a strong cold front coming in from the west, putting the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions in danger of being hit by a “superstorm” (or a “Frankenstorm,” depending on how much you want to get into the Halloween spirit) next week.

• Related, TVNewser: Ready or Not, Here Comes Hurricane Sandy

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg held a Friday afternoon press conference on the threat, calling Sandy a “large, unpredictable” storm and warning residents to be prepared. The five New York City stations all broke into their respective afternoon programming — “Dr. Phil” on WCBS, “Katie” on WABC, “Steve Harvey” on WNBC, “The People’s Court” on WNYW and “Maury” on WPIX — to broadcast the press conference.  Read more