Mt. Pleasant Remembers Metro-North Crash Victims on Anniversary
Mount Pleasant officials remembered the six victims of the worst Metro-North train accident in the railroad’s history Wednesday night with a candlelight vigil at Town Hall in Valhalla, a short distance from where the tragedy occurred.
The brief but solemn ceremony, led by Supervisor Carl Fulgenzi and state Sen. Terrence Murphy, was held on the accident’s first anniversary as 6:26 p.m. approached, the time on Feb. 3, 2015, when Edgemont resident Ellen Brody’s Mercedes SUV was hit by an oncoming train at the Commerce Street crossing.
Joined by town officials and Valhalla and Hawthorne fire department members who were among those who responded to the scene, Fulgenzi lauded those who helped and asked for the public to keep those who were touched by the accident in their thoughts.
“For the injured, life will have a new perspective. For the lives lost, emptiness will be forever present for the families left to carry on. For those who worked tirelessly on that very cold night to save lives you will forever be remembered for your efforts,” he said.
“I truly believe the only thing worse than this tragedy would be for all of us to fail to remember how precious life is and not take this moment to reflect,” Fulgenzi added.
Murphy also paid tribute to the first responders as well as the passengers who helped the more than 500 commuters aboard the Southeast-bound Harlem line train to safety.
“But to the calls that went out to the Valhalla and Hawthorne fire department, all the mutual aid that was brought in, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts,” he said.
During the ceremony Mount Pleasant Police Chief Paul Oliva read the names of the six names – Walter Liedtke, Eric Vandercar, Robert Dirks, Joseph Nadol, Aditya Tomar and Brody, followed by the ringing of a bell. William Bove, Fulgenzi’s son-in-law, sang the national anthem and “God Bless America” dressed in his NYPD uniform and Fr. Frank Bassett from Holy Name of Jesus Church delivered a prayer.
After the vigil ended, focus turned toward keeping the issue of improving grade crossing safety throughout the region in the forefront.
Murphy said he has introduced legislation for monitoring to be introduced at crossings throughout the state– cameras that would be mounted to help investigators in the event future accidents occur.
He said the measure is gaining traction, including interest from the MTA, but would want officials in each community to decide whether they want them included in their municipality.
Fulgenzi said Mount Pleasant is awaiting the final report from the National Transportation Safety Board, which will include findings from the town engineer, on what can be done to improve safety with the town’s four crossings.
However, since the town doesn’t have jurisdiction over the crossings there is little the town can do on its own, he said.
“They’re not our crossings, we don’t own them, we don’t do anything with them,” Fulgenzi said. “We own the roads coming up to that point, so there’s nothing we can do.”
Earlier this week, Brody’s husband, Alan Brody, filed a wrongful death suit in state Supreme Court against the state, MTA, Metro-North and the town claiming that those entities failed to correct hazards at the Commerce Street crossing.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/
