A state senator running for New York attorney general was a passenger in a car involved Monday night in what witnesses called a hit-and-run accident.
The senator, Eric T. Schneiderman, who represents parts of Manhattan and the Bronx, was leaving the NY1 studio in Chelsea after taping an interview when his driver hit a parked minivan and left the scene. No injuries were reported.
A spokesman for Mr. Schneiderman said the car’s driver was a staff member, Rachel Kagan, 22, the niece of Elena Kagan, the Supreme Court nominee.
The damaged car’s owner, Melissa Rabinovich, an executive editor for NY1, said it had $3,000 in damage: a cracked bumper, a damaged back panel and a cracked left taillight. She filed a police report and called Mr. Schneiderman’s office on Tuesday after tracing the license plate, which a witness had noted.
“He said he was sorry for the bump to my car, and I told him it wasn’t a bump,” Ms. Rabinovich said. “He went on to explain to me that the female who was driving the car was crying and he was sorry. I told him I was crying when I saw the damage.
“I have three children under 7, including a 4-year-old who is severely disabled and doesn’t walk. This minivan is our lifeline of transportation for him.”
In a statement, James Freedland, a spokesman for the senator, disputed the seriousness. “For New York 1 to call this a ‘hit and run’ is nothing short of outrageous,” he said.
He said that Ms. Kagan merely bumped Ms. Rabinovich’s minivan and that the senator had no idea any damage had occurred. “He has spoken with the owner of the other vehicle, expressed his sincere apology and offered to pay for all repairs,” he said.
No charges had been filed on Tuesday.
(Source: NY Times)
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4 Responses
When I was being trained as a mature adult, the one thing I learned over and over was to take responsibility. Leave a note, get out of the car, look at what happened. To say the 22 year old was crying is not enough of an excuse to take responsibility and try to ascertain what happened and how much damage was caused.
Nothing will happen to Rachel Kagan, although it should. If the “bump” was so minor, was was she crying? Once again we see how mentchlechkeit & indeed, the law, only applies to some, not all.
I’ve never hit anything, caused damage, & driven away (certainly I wouldn’t be stupid enough to do it with my boss in the car, unless HE put me up to it!!) so I don’t know what the law is. But she can always get Tante Elana to wheedle her out of this one and any other future crimes & misdemeanors.
As the famous political commentator George orwell wrote in Animal Farm, his famous allegorical novel about the communists:
“All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.”
She could be crying after finding out the damage or at the time of the hit.Either way must stop to check Pay the bill and give a rental to the family today and end the story