By JEFF LIPTON
She realizes her accident easily could have resulted in a debilitating injury or even her death - like an 18-year-old Minnesota girl who was killed in August, or a former Rockette who was paralyzed in a 2004 accident.
Last Thursday, Berman and her husband, Jerry, filed a $1 million notice of claim against the Long Island Rail Road and its parent company, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, prelude to a lawsuit that can be filed no longer than a year and 90 days after the accident. Berman's action follows a $5 million suit filed by the family of the Minnesota girl, Natalie Smead, who was killed at the Woodside station on Aug. 5, and a $50 million suit filed by the for
mer Rockette, Sheila Rann, 67, who fell through a gap at Forest Hills on Oct. 8, 2004.
"I don't care about the money," Berman said from her Lord Avenue home in Lawrence, where she is recuperating and has mostly used a wheelchair to get around since her accident. "But I think the notoriety could be helpful. The object is to make them fix this terrible thing.
"Maybe if I pile it on them, they will sit up and take notice," she said of the LIRR.
Sam Zambuto, an LIRR spokesman, said he could not comment on the notice of claim because it is pending litigation. But he said that the LIRR has taken steps to educate its ridership about being careful to avoid the gaps.
At the Lawrence station, Zambuto said, measures have been taken to alert riders about the gaps, including the installation of a pictograph, a graphic depiction of a person stepping from the train to the platform, with the caution "Watch the gap."
"We've identified other initiatives," said Zambuto. "We've also stepped up and enhanced our customer education campaign."
On Sept. 28, at about 4 p.m., Berman, 83, was stepping off a train from Penn Station in Lawrence - a trip she makes regularly - when, she says, she was temporarily blinded by the bright sunshine and tripped on the gap between the train and the platform, which measures about 10 inches wide. She fell four feet onto the tracks, according to legal papers filed on Oct. 26.
Berman required emergency surgery to repair a fractured left leg and suffered bruised ribs as well, and she was hospitalized days after her release when she developed an infection as a result of the surgery. She is now at home, taking antibiotics intravenously, and has to stay off the leg for another three weeks. "I'm feeling a lot better," she said last Friday.
She said that LIRR gaps are a major problem, because hundreds of thousands of commuters have to worry about where they are stepping, knowing that if they don't, they could be seriously injured or killed. According to the LIRR's internal standard, the gaps should be no wider than 7 to 8 inches.
"It's a terrible thing that looms over people, because they know they are risking life and limb," Berman said. "I'm very lucky - I'm able to talk about it. This effort is to make them move on it and do something to fix it."
Before her accident, Berman was very active, and enjoyed playing golf with her husband, which she may never be able to do again, her lawyer, Saul Bienenfeld, said. She had maintained an active lifestyle since leaving the state Senate in 1984, taking the LIRR into the city twice a week to shop, dine or see a Broadway show. "These are the things I loved to do," Berman said. "I hope I will be able to golf, dance and walk again."
"For a very active woman such as Mrs. Berman, this is very devastating," Bienenfeld said.
Berman and Bienenfeld state that the LIRR and the MTA were negligent for allowing the gap to exist at the Lawrence station, and failed to properly warn commuters about the defect in the platform, which was inadequately and improperly designed, built, marked and repaired and constituted a hazard.
"In spite of the fact that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Long Island Rail Road have been aware of the existence of this dangerous condition for over 30 years, they have instituted no studies, produced no studies and taken no action whatsoever to repair [it]," the legal papers stated.
Bienenfeld said that there have been 104 gap accidents over the past two years across the LIRR system, and officials have not done enough to prevent future accidents.
Zambuto said that new M-7 trains have been phased in since the fall of 2002, but the width of the cars, about 10 feet, has not changed since their predecessors were put in service in 1910.
"They definitely knew that a problem existed with all their gaps," said Bienenfeld, adding that the widest gap measures about 15 inches. "When these new trains came into service, why didn't they address the problem?"
He said that in Europe, trains have rubberized flaps that roll down to allow commuters safe passage back and forth. "It's a very easy thing to do," Bienenfeld said.
Comments about this story? JLipton@liherald.com.
