Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf is a New York Plaintiff's personal injury law firm specializing in automobile accidents, construction accidents, medical malpractice, products liability, police misconduct and all types of New York personal injury litigation.

Articles Tagged with wrongful death NY

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Tappan Zee Bridge3 men died after their tugboat crashed into a barge at a Tappan Zee Bridge construction site on Saturday morning.

63 year old Paul Amon from New Jersey, 29 year old Timothy Conklin from Long Island and 56 year old Harry Hernandez from Staten Island were the 3 crew members of the  tugboat “Specialist” that sank Saturday morning after crashing into a stationary construction barge belonging to Tappan Zee Constructors . The rescuers were able to find the bodies of Amon and Conklin. Searches to find Hernandez who is presumed dead were suspended sunday night according to The Associated Press.

The accident happened Saturday morning. The “Specialist” was one of three tugboats that were pushing a crane barge from Albany to New Jersey. The “Specialist” was located at the right of the barge while the second tugboat was on the left and the third one in the back. As they arrived at the Tappan Zee Bridge construction site, the “Specialist” hit a stationary construction barge. Before the accident happened, the crew sent a radio message saying “”We are too close. We have to move left,” but it was too late. The tugboat sank 40 feet within minutes with the 3 men on board. The tugboat also leaked into the Hudson some of the 5000 gallons of fuel that were on board at the time of the accident.

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train accident fireAlmost a year ago 6 people died and 15 others were injured (including seven severely)  in a Metro-North train accident  between the Valhalla and Mount Pleasant stations in New York.  The Valhalla railroad accident that happened on the evening of February 3rd 2015 was the deadliest in Metro-North history.

Ellen Brody, a mother of three was driving her SUV through the Commerce Street rail crossing in Valhalla. The vehicle got stuck inside the crossing gate when it descended. The approaching Metro-North train engineer spotted her too late and crashed into her vehicle. She was killed in the accident along with 5 other train passengers who were sitting in the lead car of the train. An alleged defective third rail became dislodged and entered the first car of the train. Investigators believe the fuel from the car combined with the sparks of the dislodged third rail ignited the fire that ravaged car 4333 (see picture from the National Transportation Safety Board Investigation on the left).

Our partner, NY train accident attorney Howard Hershenhorn is representing the wife of one of the victims. Last week he filed a negligence lawsuit against Metro-North and its engineer Steven Smalls Jr. as well as the town of Mount Pleasant. The lawsuit lists multiple reasons for the defendants alleged negligence. Among them:

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Two 19 year old Colgate University students were killed in a plane crash  yesterday afternoon in Morrisville, NY. Ryan Adams and Cathryn (Carey) Depuy ,  both Ridgefield natives.  The pair took off from Morrisville airport and flew 10 miles before crashing in a wooded area. They were killed instantly. Read more in the NY Daily News

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Divine22 year old Jefrrey Divine of Stormville died in a motorcycle accident, early Sunday morning in Putnam Valley, NY. The motorcyclist was riding North on the Taconic State Parkway when he collided with a SUV Subaru driving in the wrong way around 3.35 am on Sunday. According to the preliminary investigation, 40 year old Melida Espinal drove her SUV south in the northbound lanes after entering the roadway at Peekskill Hollow Road before crashing head-on with the motorcyclist. Espinal and two other occupants from the car only suffered minor injuries.
Read more in the Lohud,
Picture: Facebook

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4 women are dead and 4 others are still in the hospital after being injured in a collision during which a pick up truck collided with their limo. The 8 friends were having a bachelorette party and had hired a limo to visit distilleries and vineyards from the North Folk Region. The limo was leaving Vineyard 48 winery in Cutchogue, Long Island, NY and was making a U turn when a pick up truck crashed into it. The collision was so violent that that the limo was almost sliced in half. Brittney Schulman, 23, and Lauren Baruch, 24, both of Smithtown; Stephanie Belli, 23, of Kings Park, and Amy Grabina, 23, of Commack all died in the accident. Joelle Dimonte, 25, of Elwood, L.I.; Melissa Angela Crai, 23, of Scarsdale, Westchester County; Alicia Arundel, 24, of Setauket, L.I., and Olga Lipets, 24, of Brooklyn, were all treated at local hospitals and survived. Both drivers were also injured and hospitalized. Steve Romeo, the driver of the pick up truck was charged with misdemeanor DWI. He pleaded not guilty. Read more in the NY Daily News

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3 people died in a car accident in Long island, NY, early morning on Monday. The Ostanes, a Queens family from Haiti, were coming back from a gathering with relatives when a drunk driver who was also speeding crashed into their car. As the car burst into flames, Lucnie Bouaz-Ostane, the 35 year old mother who was in the passenger seat was able to escape. She tried to rescue the rest of the family but was unable to open the doors. Her husband, Ancio Ostane, 37, her daughter Sephora, 4, and her son, Andy, 8, all died in the accident.  The drunk driver fled but the police were able to apprehend him. 24 year old O’Neil Sharp was arrested and charged with DWI and leaving the scene of an accident. Sharp pleaded not guilty and Today authorities said a second man was arrested and awaiting arraignment. 23 year old Demetri Stewart was charged with leaving the scene of a death, fourth-degree criminal facilitation and third-degree hindering prosecution. Stewart apparently was riding another car just behind Sharpe when the accident happened. Read more in the NY Daily News 

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The Merrill’s Law or “safe distance” Law was created after Merrill Cassell, a devoted cyclist, died in a bicycle accident during which he was struck by a bus that sideswiped him as he rode his bike along Route 119 in Greenburg (see video below).

The Law was enacted 5 years ago but very few tickets have been written under the Law.

In a recent article in the Lohud, Theresa Juva-Brown explains why this law offers little protection to cyclists.Read the article here.