Groom Dies in NYC Subway Mishap

N E W   Y O R K, Aug. 18, 2000 -- Peter Seligman and Sarah Sinek were on a happyerrand downtown to get a marriage license. The Manhattan couplewere to be married Sept. 3, and it was one of the last details.

But on the crowded subway train at the height of rush hourtoday, Seligman, a public relations executive, began tofeel dizzy, and the couple decided to stand on the small platformbetween two subway cars so he could get some air, police said. Asthe southbound No. 5 train pulled into the Brooklyn Bridge Stationat 8:36 a.m., Seligman apparently fainted, fell onto the tracks andhit the electrified third rail.

Sinek called for help and Seligman was rushed to BeekmanHospital. The 30-year-old was pronounced dead at 9:50 a.m.

Friends in DisbeliefFriends and colleagues of Seligman’s at Dan Klores & Associates— where he was a partner who handled talk show host Jay Leno and anumber of sports accounts—expressed shock at his death, andsorrow for a man who was about to marry the woman of his dreams.

“He was very, very hardworking—he was deeply committed to hisclients,” said Dan Klores in a telephone interview. “Herecognized that he was growing, and that made him better. He wasvery loyal to the people who worked for him.”

“It’s why this is so unbelievable, to say that he’s dead,”Klores added.

Seligman joined the firm eight years ago—a year after it wasfounded—and became a partner four years ago, Klores said, callingSeligman “my protege.” Seligman supervised 20 people at theManhattan agency, one of the top 20 independent firms in thecountry.

“He looked like he was 21, but he had the earnestness of amiddle-aged man,” Klores said.

Love Began At AgencySeligman and Sinek became engaged about eight months ago.

The couple was to be married at The Lighthouse at Chelsea Piersand planned to honeymoon in Bali, Indonesia.

They met at the agency, and when they got engaged, Sinek leftfor another job.

“They were the fifth couple, including myself and my wife, whomet at my place,” Klores said.

Seligman, who grew up in Harrison and graduated from theUniversity of Wisconsin, was described as very health conscious andhad not been ill, Klores added. The medical examiner’s officeplanned an autopsy for Saturday.

A private funeral was to be held Sunday.