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Liedtke, who has been identified as a Bedford Hills resident, was a European paintings curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He also had a connection to the school district through his wife, Nancy, who was a retired teacher.
John Goetz, the school district's interim superintendent, called for the moment of silence in Walter Liedtke's memory. He noted that Nancy Liedtke taught math and was a teacher for many years, having been at John Jay Middle School and John Jay High School.
Goetz referred to Walter Liedtke as a “very accomplished gentleman and very well-known in the area and in the performing arts in New York City.”
Other remarks in Walter Liedtke's memory have been released.
In a community email message, Bedford Supervisor Chris Burdick mentioned Liedtke and fellow resident Eric Vandercar, who was also killed in the crash.
"Bedford, as a community, is deeply shaken and feels a tremendous sense of loss over the horrible accident that killed Bedford residents Walter Liedtke and Eric Vandercar and seriously injured a number of others," Burdick stated. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the loved ones."
Thomas Campbell, the Met's director and CEO, released a statement about Liedtke on the museum's website, which was posted on Thursday.
"Walter was an original. Always nattily dressed, his hair just so and his mustache perfect, he seemed to have emerged from another era rather than from an office on the second floor," Campbell wrote. "He was, of course, one of the world's leading scholars of Dutch and Flemish paintings, deeply devoted to his collection, which included the Met's legendary Rembrandts and Vermeers. He knew those pictures like old friends, and described them with an intimacy and spirit that was mesmerizing."
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