Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Metro-North Derailment Victims: A Nurse, A Girl Scout Troop Leader, And Two Loving Fathers
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Dec 3, 2013
Modified Dec 3, 2013
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
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Dec 3, 2013
Modified Dec 3, 2013
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
As officials continue to investigate what caused Sunday's deadly Metro-North derailment in Spuyten Duyvil, friends and family members of the victims have begun to shed light on the four lives lost, and traumatized survivors recount the day's horrific ordeal.
James Lovell, a 58-year-old audio technician from Cold Spring, NY, kissed his wife twice before boarding the train into Manhattan. "There was such peace and quiet at the train station. I got a second kiss," wife Nancy Montgomery, a City Councilwoman for the town of Philipstown, told the Daily News. Lovell and Montgomery had four children together, and son Finn, 17, told reporters his dad was "one of my closest friends...He was right there beside me. And it’s just so sad that he’s gone."
59-year-old Montrose resident James Ferrari, was on his way into the city to work an extra shift as a building superintendent. His wife, Francie Ferrari, told the Post that her husband worked on Sundays to earn a little extra money. The couple also had a 20-year-old daughter, Rebecca. "He was a wonderful husband, a wonderful daddy," Francie Ferrari said. "I loved him very much. He gave me a good life."
Fishkill resident Donna Smith, 54, a paralegal, Girl Scout troop leader and auxillary firefighter, was traveling on the doomed train with her sister Linda, on their way into Manhattan for one of Linda's choir performances. "In one way, I’m glad she was with her sister. But in another way, it’s got to be the worst tragedy — they traveled together, they vacationed together. They were inseparable," Maureen Crush, Smith's boss, told the Post. "I know this is very devastating to Linda."
Kisook Ahn (Via Facebook)
And 35-year-old Kisook Ahn was a children's nurse at Sunshine Children’s Home and Rehab Center in Ossining; she was taking the early morning train on her way back to her Woodside apartment after a 12-hour overnight shift. A native of South Korea, Ahn came to the United States about four years ago, on a healthcare staffing program designed to bring aspiring overseas nurses to the States. She received a bachelors and nursing degree at Lehman College in the Bronx, working at Sunshine with a brief stint at Kings County Hospital in between.
"She was just loved and adored by all of the nurses and children here," Linda Mosiello, Sunshine's administrator, told the Wall Street Journal. "Two of the nurses went hospital to hospital looking for her yesterday. We’re just devastated."
In addition to the four fatalities, over 60 people were injured in the derailment, and as of yesterday at least 21 of them were still being treated in area hospitals. Caroline Budinich, a 21-year-old SUNY New Paltz student, was left with a mangled leg and nearly got her fingers severed in the accident. "She’s not doing too great. She’s in a lot of pain,” her mother, Christine Duran, told the Post. Budinich, whose leg was so severely injured some of her bone was exposed, will have to undergo six-to-eight weeks of rehab and has undergone several surgeries thus far. Budinich reportedly told her mother the train was moving "too fast" before it derailed; investigators have determined the train was traveling 82 miles per hour in a 30 mile-per-hour zone at the time of the accident.
Tagged
metro north
Metro-North derailment
spuyten duyvil
Rebecca Fishbein
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Early Addition: Eric Adams did not convince a Wisconsin town to build a data center
Because the vote against it was unanimous, here are your early links: Jacket weather, swishing your Guinness, spooky decorations in North Jersey and more.
By
James Ramsay
Published Oct 14, 2026 at 8:28 a.m. ET
Hit-and-run driver arrested trying to flee to Uzbekistan after deadly crash, NYPD says
Police arrested 22-year-old Sobirjon Abdurazakov for a hit-and-run that killed a 62-year old Lyft driver.
By
Brittany Kriegstein
News
Hit-and-run driver arrested trying to flee to Uzbekistan after deadly crash, NYPD says
Police arrested 22-year-old Sobirjon Abdurazakov for a hit-and-run that killed a 62-year old Lyft driver.
By
Brittany Kriegstein
NY measles outbreak more widespread than official count, health officials say
By
Caroline Lewis
A NYC judge brought his gun into court for an ‘experiment’. Now he’s censured.
By
Samantha Max
The Bronx is getting a new casino and a reimagined Ferry Point Park, too
By
Willow Higgins
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 .