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NY1 Staffer's Parked Car Struck By State Senator's Car
By
Jen Chung
Published Jul 14, 2010
Modified Jul 14, 2010
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By
Jen Chung
Published Jul 14, 2010
Modified Jul 14, 2010
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On Monday evening, State Senator Eric Schneiderman (D-Manhattan), who is also one of the many Democratic candidates for NY Attorney General, left NY1's studios at the Chelsea Market in a car driven by a staffer, Rachel Kagan (who happens to be Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan's niece!). Apparently the car hit a minivan owned by NY1 Executive Editor Melissa Rabinovich—and she only found out who hit her car because a bicyclist witnessed the accident and took down Schneiderman's car's license plate.
Rabinovich is annoyed Schneiderman/Kagan just left the scene after damaging her car, "You're raised to do the right thing. And the right thing would have been to leave a note. It wasn't raining [on Monday], the note would have stayed. Just do the right thing -- 'Listen, I hit your car, I caused all this damage, I'll fix it.'"
Her mechanic gave an estimate of $3,000 to fix the damage, which includes a broken rear bumper, rear panel and tail light. Rabinovich also said that when she called Schneiderman, "He told me he had disciplined the staffer. But he was also insisting that it was just a bump and not a moving violation. I told him, 'Your car was moving and then you drove away. A total stranger realized you damaged my car, but you didn't?'"
Schneiderman's spokesman James Freedland said, "For NY1 to call this a ‘hit and run’ is nothing short of outrageous. Last night when pulling out of a parking space, a staff member driving Eric Schneiderman’s car bumped the car parked in front of them. The senator was in the passenger seat and did not believe that either his car or the car in front of his had sustained damage. He later discovered his car had been dented, and this morning was notified it had damaged the bumper and tail light of the other car. He has spoken with the owner of the other vehicle, expressed his sincere apology, and offered to pay for all repairs. No injuries were sustained."
One of the other AG candidates, Nassau County DA Kathleen Rice, offered this statement, "These are clearly very disturbing allegations. Like a lot of New Yorkers, we will be reserving judgment on the incident involving State Senator Schneiderman until all of the facts are made public."
Tagged
accident
Elena Kagan
eric schneiderman
hit and run
incident
Kathleen Rice
ny1
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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