NY1 Staffer's Parked Car Struck By State Senator's Car

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."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on July 14, 2010 1:48 PM

Comments [rss]

inoyourider

It's Schneiderman's fault, not ours.

This deserves to be remembered.

The whole defense of thinking it was just a bump is negated by the fact that a stranger thought it was hard enough to write down the plates.

MT

They may have not been as good looking, but I miss those big honking chrome bumpers. They weren't nearly as delicate as the plastic covers they use now. I can't believe the damage in that picture is $6,000. Well, actually I can because the same thing happened to me.

Politburo

I didn't see that picture on NY1's writeup. Maybe it was a screencap from the video, I dunno. It doesn't seem to match the damage that was described.

bleeckerite

I seriously hope that people 1) vote this September 2) vote with their brains and not with headlines on their mind.

Us New Yorkers tend to care about shit that doesn't really matter, and it'd be sad to see ex-Republicans like Kathleen Rice to get new support because of this mistake.

bonu$baby

What an idiotic statement you made. I don't care what party someone is from as much as I care about personal integrity and decency. Schneiderman is proving that he is just another Albany thug with no sense of right and wrong. Rice gets my vote.

bleeckerite

An "Albany thug" who has promoted investigations into fellow Dems Monserrate and Espada, and has actually introduced and pushed for progressive legislation? There may be pigs in our Senate but Schneiderman is certainly not one of them.

Also, with the murder rate having increased during Rice's stay as Nassau County DA, I can see why she's clearly competent, especially when her campaign is focused on fighting crime.

jpeditor

"and pushed for progressive legislation?"

"progressive legislation" = code for more taxes and nanny state regulation.

Is he one of those pigs who is going to tell me what to eat?

Or just which of my doctors can't afford to take lower and lower medicaid payment while GOVT EMPLOYEE'S AND REPS HIGH END medical care is PAID FOR FROM MY TAXES.

Anyone who is in a car that hits another car hard enough to do $3K worth of damage and "doesn't know it when it happens" is either lying or was gettin' busy when it happened.

GET HIM AND THE REST OF THE TAX-STEALER SLEAZE OUT OF THERE before they completely turn NYC in Detroitistan.

chrissederstrom

you guys could use a combo of internet and bikes to get around, rather than cars, and sidestep all this jibber jabber, but u know that. i like the comment about leaving love notes. i think we should all write each other more notes.