Tribeca Terror Attack Victims Plan To Sue City: Report

TRIBECA, NY — The victims of October's terror attack on the Hudson River Greenway plan to sue the city and state for more than $600 million, the New York Post reported Sunday.

Sayfullo Saipov killed eight people and injured 12 when he ran a rented pickup truck down the bike path on Oct. 31. He faces federal terrorism and murder charges stemming from the Islamic State-inspired crime.

The victims and their families argue officials did nothing to prevent such an attack on the state-owned greenway despite warnings that one could happen, the Post reported.

The city and state failed to "take the necessary precautions based on appropriate engineering studies for this target location in the financial capital of the world," a lawyer for the families, Howard Hershenhorn, wrote in notices of claim filed Friday, the Post reported.

The wives of five Argentinan men killed in the attack — who were in New York celebrating a high school reunion — are each suing for $30 million, as is the sister of a Greenwich Village man, Nicholas Cleves, and the family of the Belgian woman, Anne-Laure Ducadt, who were also killed, the Post reported.

The New Jersey family of Darren Drake, the eighth person killed, reportedly brought a separate legal claim against the city and state in November.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has reportedly warned of the dangers of "vehicle ramming" terror attacks since December 2010. Saipov followed the Islamic State group's instructions for carrying one out almost exactly, law enforcement officails have said.

The state Department of Transportation erected temporary barriers along the Hudson River Greenway immediately after the attack. City officials announced plans this month to eventually install permanent bollards on the bike path to prevent another such attack.

A spokesman for the city Law Department said the city is reviewing the victims' families claims.

Read the full New York Post story here.

(Lead image: Cyclists ride along the Hudson River Greenway in November 2017. Photo by Noah Manskar)