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Tag: ellen Brody

  • Ellen Brody: Why Was the SUV Driver Killed in Train Crash On the Tracks?

    Ellen Brody and five other people were killed Tuesday when the 49-year-old woman stopped her SUV on tracks in New York moments before a Metro-North commuter train barreled through the crossing.

    Federal investigators looking into the fiery commuter train wreck focused their investigation on the mystery of why Ellen Brody, who was remembered in a memorial service Friday, was on the track in the first place.

    “The big question everyone wants to know is: Why was this vehicle in the crossing?” said Robert Sumwalt, National Transportation and Safety Board vice chairman.

    According to the Associated Press, the wreck occurred in the late evening hours and visibility was lessened at the time of the accident. Ellen Brody exited her SUV momentarily after the crossing gates came down and hit her car, according to a motorist behind her, Rick Hope.

    “She wasn’t in a hurry at all, but she had to have known that a train was coming,” Hope told the Journal News. He reportedly motioned for her to back up and gave her room to reverse. But instead, she returned to her car and went forward on the tracks, he said.

    “It looks like she stopped where she stopped because she didn’t want to go on the tracks,” Hope he told WNYW-TV. “It was dark, so maybe she didn’t know she was in front of the gate.”

    According to Sen. Charles Schumer, the train appeared to be traveling at a speed of 58 mph, well within the 60-to-70-mph speed limit in that area, however, the NTSB said it wants to confirm speed and other data extracted from the recorder before releasing it.

    Investigators are examining the crossing gate, although they initially said the gates appeared to work, as well the tracks. They are also interviewing the crew and looking into whether the SUV also had a data recorder on board.

    According to family friend Paul Feiner, the town supervisor in Greenburgh, Ellen Brody was a mother of three grown daughters and an active, outgoing member of her synagogue. Feiner said the jewelry store employee was “not risky when it came to her safety or others.”

    According to the FRA, there are an average of 230 to 250 deaths a year at commuter train crossings, which is 50 percent fewer than two decades ago.

    A 2004 government report says risky driver behavior or poor judgment accounts for 94 percent of all crossing accidents,.

  • Ellen Brody, N.Y. Train Crash Victim, Remembered

    Ellen Brody was driving home from work on Tuesday evening when her Mercedes SUV was violently struck by a Metro-North commuter train in Westchester County, New York, killing her instantly. Her daughters, in a panic when their mother didn’t return home at her regular time, called her co-worker. Virginia Shasha sat vigil with Ellen’s three daughters while their father went to the local police station to share his concern about his missing wife. When he returned home at 1:30 AM on Wednesday, his news was grave.

    “She’s gone,” he told them.

    Since that moment, many in her family and in her community have shared remembrances of the woman who would have celebrated her 50th birthday next month.

    “The last thing I said to her was something like ‘See you tomorrow,’ and we talked about bringing yogurt for our diets,” Virginia Shasha said. “I always used to invite her for dinner, and it will always haunt me that I didn’t (Tuesday) night.”

    “She reminded me of Joan Rivers,” Gina Forgione, a friend of Ellen Brody for the last 30 years, said. “She was that funny, and she was an amazing mom, too. … I really feel bad for her husband and daughters. She is going to be so missed.”

    Neighbor Songkuk Kim was dismayed when he learned the news about Ellen Brody.

    “Oh my God,” he said. “She was a very kind person. When we have a big snow, and we’re out there shoveling, she always waves. This is so sad.”

    Nick Kokis went to high school with Ellen Brody at Hillcrest High School in Queens.

    “I’m in shock,” he said. “She was a really sweet person, salt of the earth. It’s just really, really tragic.”

    An unidentified woman came out of the Brody home on Wednesday afternoon to read a statement to the awaiting media.

    “Ellen Brody was a much-loved wife and mother of three,” the woman said. “She was an active member of this community.”

    “This is a tragic loss for all of us,” she continued, “and we just ask that you respect our privacy at this time. Thank you.”

    Ellen Brody was mourned at a funeral service on Friday.

    “Her family was everything to her,” Rabbi Benjy Silverman, co-director of the synagogue, said of her. “She was their biggest fan and supporter. Her beautiful soul always found beauty within others. She felt a deep connection with everyone she encountered.”

    A large picture of Ellen Brody stood at the front of the synagogue. She was smiling.

    “That was exactly the same spirit of the girl I met back in 1989 at a friends’ reunion in Queens,” her husband said of the photo, choking back tears. “Somehow, she stood out in the crowd and her youthful effervescence caught my attention. That enthusiasm, that effervescence, that exuberance, it never lacked. It never got old. It was her gift.”

    The days and weeks ahead will be unfathomable for the Brody family in light of this terrible train crash. May they find some peace in the outpouring of love and support they are receiving from their family members and friends.