Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Blizzard Brings City A Second $20 Million Suit
By
Garth Johnston
Published Jan 24, 2011
Modified Jan 24, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Garth Johnston
Published Jan 24, 2011
Modified Jan 24, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
And then there were two. Lawyer Sanford Rubenstein plans today to file a second wrongful death lawsuit related to the delayed EMT responses durring the blizzard. Last week he filed a lawsuit on behalf of the family of a 75-year-old woman who died after an ambulance took three hours to get to her. And today he's at it again, telling the Daily News he will file a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of Robert Davis, whose 63-year-old wife Claire Reed also died of a heart attack before ambulances could arrive in the blizzard's aftermath.
Davis first called for help for his pained wife around 7:30 a.m. on December 27 but nobody came. He tried again before 8 and again, nobody came. According to an FDNY report, "medics were assigned to the call at 9:07 a.m.—97 minutes after Davis said he first called for help." By the time they finally arrived, at 9:10 a.m., Claire Reed was already dead.
To make an already sad story worse: because of a massive, four-digit backlog of emergency calls, the medical examiner couldn't come and inspect the body for a full day—so Reed's corpse simply lay on the couch. "I slept on the floor right beside my wife," Davis told the News.
As in the first blizzard suit, Davis is seeking $20 million from the city.
Tagged
blizzageddon
blizzard 2010
Claire Reed
Robert Davis
sanford rubenstein
wrongful death suit
Garth Johnston
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Queens man charged with hate crime at Jewish-owned bagel shop displaying Israeli flags
Prosecutors say the 22-year-old damaged property outside the Fresh Meadows shop twice in May.
By
Giulia Heyward
Published Oct 19, 2026 at 6:07 p.m. ET
MTA train yards are in such bad shape plants are growing out of the roof, watchdog says
In some cases, the damage was “clearly not recent."
By
Stephen Nessen
News
MTA train yards are in such bad shape plants are growing out of the roof, watchdog says
In some cases, the damage was “clearly not recent."
By
Stephen Nessen
High-ranking NYC officials to testify in ex-buildings boss Eric Ulrich's corruption trial
By
David Brand
Mamdani launches new team to help NYers keep SNAP, Medicaid benefits
By
Caroline Lewis
Riders at 53rd St. station where man was fatally shot say they worry about gun violence
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .