NYC terror victim's father: 'To be angry is useless'

NEW MILFORD — Darren Drake thought he was free from danger as he biked down a Hudson River path in lower Manhattan on Tuesday.

It was his recess, his everyday routine.

"He felt safe," Barbara Drake, Darren's mother, said.

But on that chilly afternoon, he was anything but.

Drake, who would have turned 33 this month, was one of eight people killed when authorities say an Uzbeki immigrant from Paterson sped down the path in a rented truck, knocking down pedestrians and cyclists before ramming a school bus.

The suspect – 29-year-old Sayfullo Saipov – then emerged from the truck pointing paintball and pellet guns, authorities said. He was shot in the abdomen by police and taken to Bellevue Hospital.

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"I understand sickness. I understand an accident," Barbara Drake said Thursday. "But, I don't understand someone coming and mowing down people, like it's nothing."

Saipov reportedly told authorities he "felt good" about the terror plot he allegedly carried out.

James Drake, who initially wrestled with feelings of anger toward his son's killer, expressed only weariness Thursday.

"To be angry is useless," James Drake said. "There's nothing I can do about it. What am I going to do, sue him?"

Instead, Darren's parents said they found comfort from a community that was grieving with them.

Since the attack, the Drakes have been overwhelmed with support. On Thursday, their dining room and kitchen were filled with gifts of condolence. Amid the baskets of semi-tropical house plants, bouquets of flowers, platters of sandwiches and a heaping bowl of macaroni salad, a handwoven blanket lay in a shopping bag – a gift from an unknown stranger who wrote, simply, "I hope it warms your heart, just a little."

Some of the mourners who have called and knocked took the couple by surprise.

"We didn't even know how many lives he's touched," Barbara Drake said, adding she and her husband have heard this week from many of her son's former classmates. "He was still in touch with people he went to grammar school with. We never knew."

As they planned their only child's funeral, Barbara Drake said it was cathartic for her to talk about Darren.

"I like to get it out," she said. "The reason we're doing this interview is to let everyone know what a wonderful person he is."

Darren, who was pursuing a second master's degree in technology management from Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, was a program manager for Moody's Analytics at the World Trade Center since January 2014. A 2003 graduate of New Milford High School, he was a former member of the school board and onetime candidate for Borough Council.

Darren was in very good spirits in recent weeks, his parents said. He lost 93 pounds — down to 307 pounds — through cycling and watching what he ate. In fact, his parents said, their son recently found that most of his clothes were too big, and they bought him a $600 suit from Men's Wearhouse.

It was the result of a friendly bet between the three of them, and the couple said Darren won because he had lost so much weight.

On Thursday, many of Darren's clothes had been packed in garbage bags on the floor of his bedroom, awaiting delivery to a veterans' charity.

As the Drakes spoke Thursday of their beloved son, the phone rang continuously – more mourners seeking to pay their condolences.

Then, a local police officer knocked on the front door to offer his support.

Then, after receiving comfort from all of those unexpected places, they found it where it always had been: Their son's bedroom.

It was on the small table, across from Darren's campaign signs and diplomas, and a few feet away from his handsome collection of cufflinks. 

It was a portrait of Darren, smiling.

Email: devencentis@northjersey.com