Ellen Brody's Family to Sue Metro-North over Crash

The family of Ellen Brody, the 49-year-old Edgemont woman who was killed when her SUV was struck by a Metro-North train at a crossing in Valhalla, intends to sue the railroad, according to an attorney representing the family.

New York attorney Philip Russotti claims the Valhalla crossing where the crash took place in February “should have been eliminated” based on safety concerns from experts.

In addition to Brody, five passengers on the train also were killed and several were injured.

“This horrific accident was not the fault of Ellen Brody,” Russotti said in a statement. “It was due to a confluence of circumstances existing at the crossing which failed to meet standards of railroad crossing signage throughout this country, and which obviously prevented Mrs. Brody from having the knowledge necessary to protect herself.”

Russotti filed a 26-page Notice of Claims last week against the railroad on behalf of Alan Brody, Ellen’s husband, who is the administrator of her estate. In it, Russotti catalogs a litany of issues he argues were deficient with the crossing, such as its “hazardous skew/angle” which limits a driver’s field of view and a “short queue” leading up to the tracks.

In the aftermath of the crash, officials have called for improvements to grade-level railroad crossings.

Photo: Investigator surveying one of the cars from the February crash.

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• Chappaqua Resident Robert Dirks Among Victims in Metro-North Tragedy
• Bedford Hills Resident Walter Liedtke Among Victims in Metro North Tragedy
• Edgemont Resident Ellen Brody Among Victims in Metro North Tragedy
• Danbury Resident Aditya Tomar Among Victims in Metro-North Tragedy
• Bedford Resident Eric Vandercar Among Victims
• Metro-North Harlem Line Tragedy: Timeline; Feds Collecting Evidence
• Car vs. Train Crash, Fire in Valhalla