WHAT A HEEL: A Slow Boat To Nowhere
When a Staten Island ferry boat crashed into a concrete pier on Oct. 15, 2003, it was impossible to determine who, exactly, was on board making the commute between Manhattan and Staten Island, reports New York Law Journal:
[O]fficials had no passenger manifest, no record of how many people were aboard the 6,000-passenger vessel, let alone the names of the approximately 1,500 passengers who were on that afternoon's 3:30 ferry.
No one bought a ticket. And there are no videotapes of passengers boarding the ferry.
Former Bronx security guard George Adde filed a personal injury suit after the incident seeking $450,000 and $600,000, claiming that when he fell to the ground and several other passenger toppled on top of him, he suffered a herniated disc and needed surgery three months later. Unfortunately, though there was no proof that he was not on the ferry at the time, his own words proved that he wasn’t:
Adde described to the city's attorney, Sasmor, the ferry's approach to Manhattan, then after the crash, his walk to the Bowling Green subway station. But the boat crashed going the other way, as it approached the St. George Ferry Terminal on Staten Island. …
Later in his deposition Adde recalled meeting with his business partner 30 minutes after getting off the doomed ferry. However, at trial, he said no such meeting took place.
A judge threw out Adde's claim based on these discrepancies and his not having sought medical attention until weeks after the accident, and ordered that he pay all court costs associated with his meritless suit.
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