City Tries To Shortchange Victim Of S.I. Ferry Crash

Five years ago the Staten Island ferry crashed into the pilings at the dock, killing 11 and injuring dozens. It was a terrible tragedy that while directly caused by the piloting of Andrew Barberi, the city was and is ultimately responsible. Now the subsequent lawsuits from the victims are still not settled, and in these harsh budgetary times, it seems that city is trying to axe some settlement money based on a statistic.

From The Gothamist:

Nearly five years after the Staten Island Ferry crash, victims are still fighting with the city over settlements. And in one case, the city claims James McMillan Jr., a 44-year-old who was paralyzed, will die in 16 years, not 30 years, so the settlement should only cover 16 years. He is under 24-hour-care and his lawyer said he'll live a long life with proper care, "The city paralyzed him, and now they're saying that he is going to die young because of the damage they caused. They're turning a personal-injury case into a wrongful-death case." A juries were recently selected for McMillan's case as well as the case of a crash victim who died.

What the city's lawyers so callously disregard is that while statistically victims like Mr. McMillan die around 60, if he wasn't injured on a city boat his life expectancy would be like any other New Yorker. It is sickening just to think that someone with authority in the city's lawyer brigade actually let this idea fly into the courtroom for all to see and hear. This is not a disputable case and therefore the victims deserve everything that the city owes them, based on a full-life that was robbed from each and every victim.