City College of New York Found ‘Partly Liable’ in Stampede Deaths

A state judge last month found City College of the City University of New York partly liable for the deaths of nine people in 1991 during a stampede at a celebrity basketball game and rap concert at the college.

A ruling by State Court of Claims Judge Louis C. Benza found that the college shared blame equally with the two organizers of the event, the rap musicians Sean (Puff Daddy) Combs and Dwight (Heavy D) Myers.

The decision came in a lawsuit filed by four people who suffered injuries in the college’s gymnasium. The gym holds 2,730 people, but the event was oversold, and Mr. Combs’s security guards barricaded the only entrance to keep out non-ticket-holders. In the ensuing crush, 29 people were injured in addition to the nine killed.

The judge excoriated City College officials for not taking adequate measures to control the crowd, and for transferring responsibility for security to Mr. Combs’s forces.

Rita Rodin, a CUNY spokeswoman, said all of the system’s campuses had since improved their policies, including using campus security for such events, and insuring that adequate steps are taken to control crowds.

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