Edgemont Mom Dies in Fiery Crash with Metro North Train

The Scarsdale community was already deeply shaken by the crash of a rush hour Metro North train just a few miles north of here in Valhalla when we learned that the accident had taken one of our own. The NY Post reported Wednesday 2-4 that the woman who was driving the car that was caught on the track between the gates was Edgemont mother Ellen Brody. She was on her way home from her job at ICD Contemporary Jewelry in Chappaqua, driving the black Mercedes SUV that was hit by the train and exploded into flames. The explosion not only killed Brody inside the car but took the lives of five others who were burned in the first car of the train. Brody, age 49, was the mother of three daughters, the youngest a junior at Edgemont High School. The other two graduated from EHS in 2010 and 2014.

According to an account from a witness, published in the NY Post here's what happened:
"The gate came down on her ML350 and she got out to look. She then got back in the car and drove forward — even though the motorist behind her was yelling for her to stop, and was struck. She looked a little confused, got back in the car and pulled forward on the tracks."

The Jewish Daily Forward said that Brody's family was active in Chabad of the Rivertowns. Brody worked at the jewelry store for 15 years and her employer, Varda Singer called her "a real tzaddik," (a virtuous person.) Her husband Alan immigrated here from South Africa.

The Post is also reporting the identities of two of the other crash victims. Walter Liedtke, the curator for European paintings at the Metropolitan Musem of Art died as well as Eric Vandercar who worked for Meisrow Financial in Manhattan.

In Scarsdale, it's hard to believe that commuters like us on their way home from work on one of the most trusted railroads in the country died in this senseless tragedy. Many of us ride the trains daily – and consider it the safest and most convenient way to travel to the city. In the past two weeks, train service has been steady through the winter storms and most have all but forgotten the deadly accident that occurred at Spuyten Duyvil in December, 2013 killing four and injuring 70 when the train derailed.

The National Transportation Safety Board is on the scene to investigate the accident, which is being called the deadliest in Metro North's history. Governor Cuomo said, "this was as gruesome as I have seen," and County Executive Rob Astorino called it "horrific and unimaginable."

We asked MTA spokesperson Marjorie Anders for a comment and she said we "won't be saying much as the various investigations unfold."