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Spuyten Duyvil crash engineer drops lawsuit

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An engineer who was operating a Metro-North train that derailed outside the Spuyten Duyvil station in 2013 has decided to end his legal attempts to collect $10 million from his former employer.

William Rockefeller had sued Metro-North in 2016 claiming the railroad lacked a backup safety system that could have prevented the crash that killed four passengers, according to The Journal News.

The train derailed while traveling a curved track just before Spuyten Duyvil at a reported 82 mph. Rockefeller was said to have fallen asleep while at the controls while the train speeded ahead at nearly triple the limit.

Rockefeller apparently feared he would be on the hook for $10 million himself, according to the publication, which is what Metro-North countersued him for as the cost of the train they said he destroyed.

He had tried to push a theory in the court that Metro-North failed to follow the advice of a foreman to install an automatic braking system to handle speeding trains on curves. That recommendation, Rockefeller said, came after another train nearly derailed near Spuyten Duyvil in 2005.

Metro-North has added automatic braking since the 2013 derailment.

 

Diaz revives call for citywide gun registry

With mass shootings in place like El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, once again dominating the news, Bronx borough president Ruben Diaz Jr., has renewed his call for the city council to create a public gun crime registry.

“Enough is enough,” Diaz said, in a release. “The scourge of gun violence that has rocked this country in recent weeks — as well as Washington’s continued refusal to act on these tragedies — requires us to implement strong local solutions.

“The recent shooting in Brownsville showed us quite clearly that perpetrators of gun violence demonstrate a flagrant disregard for human life and the health of the community. They need to be exposed.”

The Brownsville shooting killed one and wounded 11 others at a Brooklyn playground last month.

Diaz first proposed his online, searchable registry in 2013 that would give members of the public access to information about offenders, including names, partial addresses and photographs. It also would allow them to search for offenders living in their communities, and even allow them to sign up for email updates whenever a gun offender moves into their neighborhood.

“As a city, we must be willing to expose those among us who have made our communities unsafe through gun violence,” Diaz said. “We must shine a clear spotlight on those who would terrorize our neighborhoods with guns.”

Metro-North, William Rockefeller, Ruben Diaz Jr., Michael Hinman,

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