Taconic crash victims' families plan to meet

Two families who lost loved ones in the deadly Taconic State Parkway crash last month have agreed to meet and exchange condolences, one family's attorney said Wednesday.

Diane Schuler, 36, of West Babylon, was drunk and high when she drove the wrong way on the Taconic with a minivan full of children and plowed head-on into a sport utility vehicle, authorities said. An autopsy showed her blood-alcohol content was more than twice the legal limit and she had used pot.

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Among the dead were Diane Schuler, her daughter, Erin, 2, and her three nieces, Emma Hance, 8, Alyson Hance, 7, and Kate Hance, 5, in the minivan. Three Yonkers men in the SUV also died: Guy Bastardi, 49, and his father, Michael Bastardi, 81, and their friend, Daniel Longo, 74. Schuler's son Bryan, 5, survived.

No date has been chosen for the Hances and the Bastardis to meet, the Bastardi family attorney Irving Anolik said. A Hance family member came up with the idea, he said, after seeing Michael Bastardi's daughter, Roseann Guzzo, on the "Today" Show on Monday.

James McCrorie, a Manhattan attorney for the Hances, called to set up the meeting, Anolik said. Guzzo's response, Anolik said, was: "That sounds like an interesting idea."

Anolik also said the Bastardis and the Hances were "upset" by a news conference last week by Diane Schuler's husband.

Daniel Schuler contended at the news conference that his wife was not a heavy drinker and had health issues that could explain her behavior.

"I think everybody on my client's side and the Hances' side were somewhat upset, if not angry, over the publicity," said Anolik, of upstate Nanuet.

The Hance family declined to comment. McCrorie and Schuler attorney Dominic Barbara did not return calls.

Anolik backed away from comments attributed to him in the New York Post Wednesday that the Hances wanted no more contact with their in-laws, the Schulers.

"I was just speculating," Anolik said, adding he drew a "negative inference" about the two families' relationship based on a conversation with McCrorie.

A fund to raise money for the crash's Long Island victims has dropped the Schuler name and is known now as The Hance Family Foundation. On Facebook, the social networking site where 787 "friends" have joined a group for the fund, the change was noticed.

"The Schuler children should not be forgotten about!!" wrote one member.

A posting on the Facebook page said that the name change "does not mean it excludes nor denies any child. No one is forgotten here."

A separate Web site for the fund says it's meant to "honor the memories of Emma, Alyson and Kate Hance."

With Sumathi Reddy

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