Ferry-crash death suit is settled for $2.4M
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The estate of a New Brighton woman killed in the 2003 Staten Island Ferry crash has settled its wrongful-death lawsuit against the city for $2.4 million.
Carmen Rochel Huertas, 42, a wife and the mother of a 10-year-old girl, was killed when the ferryboat Andrew J. Barberi slammed into a maintenance pier near the St. George Ferry Terminal. Ten others died and scores were injured in one of the worst mass-transit accidents in city history.
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"The city continues to express its sympathy and hopes the settlement would bring a measure of closure to the family," a spokeswoman for the city Law Department said yesterday in confirming the agreement.
Stephen P. Markus, the Garden City, L.I.-based lawyer for the Huertas estate, did not return telephone calls seeking comment.
Mrs. Huertas' family did not want to comment after her death, but neighbors praised her as a wonderful parent and friendly person.
"She's an excellent mother," Eula Martin, a next-door neighbor, told the Advance. "You couldn't find a better mother than her."
Jury selection for the trial in Brooklyn federal court had been slated for Dec. 8, but was postponed to allow for settlement talks to continue, court records show.
The settlement was the 10th of the 11 wrongful-death cases. To date, the city has settled 133 cases for just over $60 million, the spokeswoman said. The payout jumps to more than $78.3 million for resolved cases, factoring in an $18.3 million award after trial for former Staten Islander James McMillan Jr., who was rendered a quadriplegic in the crash.
Still pending are 38 cases, including one wrongful-death claim.