fda, you are a moron. The "jew move" comment was obviously a joke and signed by "Al Sharpton". it may not be funny to you but i thought it was funny in a bad taste way.

as far as anti-semitism goes, i'm surprised that's the only comment we got.

stupid move, yes, but how about giving it some perspective and think of how all those lawyers rang the family's phone of the hook demanding that they sue and that it would be a sure thing. unfortunately, those crooked lawyers may be correct..... chances are the mta may settle out of court for a large amount of money just to not deal with the hassle and possible negative publicity (despite what most are saying here).

as the family lives in rego park then they are well aware of how fast the trains travel that stretch. the boy was not thinking and unfortuntately tragedy ensued. but it's not the LIRR's fault.

The responses to this column are disgusting and further exemplify the anti-Semitism that still exists in parts of America.

Let's look at some noteworthy examples:

"Why is no one surprised? what a jew move!" -Person who calls himself Al Sharpton (although he probably would say something like that). To the person who wrote this, you're an unintelligent, misguided individual.

"Wow, sabbaths and lawsuits. They go together. The parents should be the ones sued - those orthos are all inbred." -Lew

Hey Lew-You're a despicable person. Your equivalency between Sabbath and lawsuits is backward. Furthermore, your claim about "orthos" being inbred makes you sound like an ignorant fool.

Honestly, Lew and "Al Sharpton." Get a life! A kid dies and all you can talk about is that he deserves it for being Jewish. When you die, I hope people bash you for being terrible people and prejudiced pigs.

Wasn't three whole days.

The incident happened on Friday evening. The news of "KIN TO SUE" appeared in Sunday's paper:

http://www.nydailynews.com/01-07-2007/news/local/story/486382p-409531c.html

Since it was a Sunday article, it was barely a day before family and "legal counsel" thought it would be a great idea to pursue legal recourse before sitting shiva. What disgusting and abhorable people. If this is not the intended action of the family, they should tell their "legal counsel" to have a nice tall glass of STFU.

Oh yes, Shirley, the family must be absolutely DEVASTATED.

The fact that it took what - *three whole days* to come up with a way to profit from bad parenting/idiotic behavior on the part of their little angel hammers home your point.

Oh yes, Shirley, the family must be absolutely DEVASTATED.

The fact that it took what - *three whole days* to come up with a way to profit from bad parenting/idiotic behavior on the part of their little angel hammers home your point.

[Side note: Gothamist - please fix your second-rate comments engine once and for all or risk losing your audience.]

Oh yes, Shirley, the family must be absolutely DEVASTATED.

The fact that it took what - *three whole days* to come up with a way to profit from bad parenting/idiotic behavior on the part of their little angel hammers home your point.

It may be painful to lose a family member... a pain I'm sure most of us have gone through... and no matter the facts, a 13-year kid dying is tragic (and I feel sorry for the family)... But the fact that this kid was performing an illegal act and trespassing on fenced-off property negates any sympathy a person may have for him. It's common sense not to trespass where "big, metallic monsters" could make you the bug on the car windshield. Damn, even I'm not that stupid, and I'm 17 years-old. I never understood why kids always do the most f**ked up sh*t in areas that are clearly dangerous. And, as always, when something like this happens, a lawsuit always appears. I swear to you that I was just dicussing this topic with my father (about an hour ago) and I told him that there was going to be a lawsuit. Presto! There it is! In all reality, I hate lawsuits like these that have no hard facts that could prove the innocence of the so-called "victim" (this goes hand-in-hand with the McDonald's lawsuit where a woman sued the fast-food chain because she burned herself with HOT COFFEE, even though it said on the cup, WARNING!! HOT!! Another example are the lawsuits against video gaming companies because of violence in video games, when the rating says M - MATURE 17+). The fact that this family is sueing because of the hole in the fence does not negate the fact that the child, by his own choice and actions, decided to illegally trespass onto the dangerous train tracks and destroyed private property.

Shirley, I'm sure the family's devastated, but what they're doing is despicable. They're trying to pass the buck to the LIRR for their kid's actions. If the boy hadn't chosen to commit property damage or go where he wasn't supposed to be, he would still be alive. Period.

It's not the LIRR's fault the kid decided to engage in a criminal act. It's not the LIRR's fault that the parents obviously failed to instill proper values in their son. I really hope the LIRR does countersue.

Shirley, I'm sure the family is absolutely devastated right now. The fact remains that if the boy had not gone someplace he wasn't supposed to be, with the intention of causing property damage and performing a criminal act...he'd still be alive.

It's not the LIRR's fault that this kid didn't do the right thing. It's not the LIRR's fault that the parents didn't instill the kid with proper values or respect. They want to pass the buck to the LIRR. I agree, I think the LIRR and every first responder should countersue for the trauma and damage this boy caused.

#42:

"The family [suing] the LIRR is nothing compared to what they have just lost."

You're right. It's nothing compared. So how about the family of the boy take some f*cking responsibility and not sue the MTA.

--

Unrelated note:

remember Columbine? Well, after that horrific tragedy the parents, the school and the the counselors went out and banned trench coats. Wow! That'll fix the problem.

That was the problem? Trench coats? No of course not it wasn't, but it was easier than the parents of the killers and the parents of the "jocks and motorheads" to admit direct responsibility for the deaths of their innocent neighbors/classmates. F*ckin' trench coats.

--

The parents of this child are hurting no doubt, but suing the MTA, will surely not ease their pain nor bring their child back— Perhaps they should first admit their guilt of bad parenting and then try to figure out a plan to help the peers of their son.

I do have sympathy, because losing a family member sucks, but I do not have teh sort of sympathy that condones greed and anger with a twist of suing.

We can only hope the judge(s) throw this suit out.

oh, but shirley, it is happening to us. they are wasting our straphanger dollars with their stupid greed and lack of responsibility. surely it's a tragedy for them, but that has nothing to do with LIRR. they'd get plenty of sympathy if they weren't trying to capitalize on it.

wow I cant believe the harsh comments on the site - I actually knew the boy personally and will say you no one here should judge anything from what they read in a newspaper article. The family sewing the LIRR is nothing compared to what they have just lost.

And to the guy who missed "Several primetime shows" because of what happened, I hope something like this never happens to someone in your family.

I sued myself and won for not waking up to my alarm clock and consequently getting fired from my job at a watch repair shop... ah irony i love you dearly...

good times.

Its a horrible tragedy that the kid is dead, but if the hole in the fence wasn't there, he would have found another way in to where the train tracks were to do his "art".

This wasn't a lost child who stumbled into an area he didn't know well..He chose to walk into a dangerous area, with BIG SIGNS SAYING SO. Of course, all kids think nothing bad can happen to them...until a train hits them.

Its a shame, but he made a huge mistake and it cost him his life.

The MTA should counter sue the parents.

They have no case.

There must be an echo in here:

http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2007/01/07/extra_extra_388.php#comment-893132

the train driver should sue the family for the mental hell he's been put through.

every first responder who arrived at the scene and put their lives at risk (I doubt anyone waited for 3rd rail power to be cut) to go maybe try and save this idiot should sue the family, + mental anguish of seeing his guts splattered all over the place.

the city should sue them for the money it cost to respond.

individual commuters should be able to sue the family for the upwards of 4 hour delays and loss of family time, dinner dates, etc.

in my book, all of the above were victims of this idiot and should be compensated accordingly.

while we're at it, there should be a law against lawyers bring frivilous suits after this. maybe if lawyers would lose their license for bringing this sort of shit they'd think twice.

The really funny part? One of the articles yesterday said the kid was hoping to attend Stuyvesant or Bronx Sci this fall. Yeah, I can tell he was a real rocket scientist. Hey, kid, here's some basic physics: Big, fast train + kid trespassing on tracks = big mess and long delays.

Paraphrasing Chris Farley in a personal injury lawyer commercial parody from way back when:

"Sure, I was drunk as hell and that construction site was posted no trespassing, but is $2 million in compensatory damages really going to make up for me losing a tooth?"