Copyright 2006 Newsday, Inc.
Bicyclist, 39, hit during transit strike by charter bus holds union responsible for his critical injuries
BY RAY SÁNCHEZ
Newsday (New York)
A firefighter who was critically injured while bicycling to work during the December bus and subway strike has filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the transit workers union, Bear Stearns and two private bus companies, his lawyer said yesterday.
The suit was filed in State Supreme Court in Queens Friday on behalf of firefighter Matthew Long, 39, of Manhattan, who has had nine operations at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center since being struck by a charter bus on Dec. 22 in Manhattan. The suit also names the bus driver, Bryant Barr, of Albany.
“His life is changed forever because of this strike,” Long’s lawyer, Christopher McGrath, said of his client.
McGrath said the charter bus was on its way to pick up workers from Bear Stearns and deliver them to the investment banking company’s midtown offices during the illegal 60-hour strike.
Long, the son of New York State Conservative Party Chairman Michael Long, was on his way to his job at the Fire Department’s training academy on Randalls Island when the bus “suddenly and without warning violently made a right turn over multiple lanes” and struck the off-duty firefighter at Third Avenue and 52nd Street, the suit says. Barr received a traffic summons for an improper turn.
Transport Workers Union Local 100 was ultimately responsible for the accident by staging the job action, the suit says.
“The union put this entire thing into motion,” McGrath said. “Whenever you engage in an illegal strike ... they have to understand that there are certain people that it’s going to affect their safety, namely firefighters. These people have to get to work.”
A spokesman said the union had no comment.
The suit also names Allen A.M.E. Transportation Corp., owner of the bus, and Academy Bus Tours of New York, which had a deal with Bear Stearns to provide service for workers during the strike. The suit says the defendants’ “negligence, carelessness and recklessness” contributed to the accident.
The two bus companies declined to comment. Barr could not be reached for comment. Russell Sherman, a spokesman for Bear Stearns, declined to comment on the litigation.
“This is a tragic situation,” Sherman said. “Our thoughts are with Matthew and his family and we continue to hope for his complete recovery.”
McGrath said his client’s full recovery is unlikely, given the multiple fractures and many complications of his injuries.
“He’ll never be the same as he used to be,” he said. “He’s never going to be able to do the things that he loves again.”
Long, a 12-year Fire Department veteran, was in top physical condition from years of cycling and running and triathlon competitions, his lawyer said.