According to published reports, Brian Bond, a Piermont resident and teacher at White Plains schools, and John Schumacher of Valley Cottage, who were both injured in the fatal boat crash on the Hudson River in July, filed lawsuits Monday against Tappan Zee Constructors and JoJo John, the driver of the boat.



Bond and Schumacher were both injured in the accident that claimed the lives of Bond's fiancee, Lindsey Stewart, and John Lennon, who was to be Bond's best man in the wedding. According to this News 12 report, the lawsuit charges that the barges were black and low to the water, making it too difficult for boaters to see.



Tappan Zee Constructors, the consortium building the new Tappan Zee Bridge, issued a statement claiming that the barges were properly moored and lighted, pointing to the charges faced by John. John pleaded not-guilty of the 18 charges against him stemming from the crash last Wednesday.



The families of Stewart and Lennon each filed separate civil lawsuits last week which also named Tappan Zee Constructors. In those lawsuits, as well as those filed by Bond and Schumacher, John and Anthony Amendola are named as owners of the boat in the crash.