Tragic last case

THE LIFE PARTNER of a noted gay rights lawyer who tragically set himself on fire in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park said Sunday that he’d made the “statement” he wanted, in the way he wanted.

David Buckel immolated himself in the park near his home, leaving behind two notes explaining that he hoped his death would serve as a wakeup call about the environmental devastation caused by fossil fuels.

He left behind a daughter, Hannah, whom he raised with partner Terry Kaelber. The men co-parented Hannah with another couple, Rona and Cindy Vail, according to a 2006 Gay City News article.

“He gave a statement, and that’s really what he wanted,” Cindy Vail said while walking with Kaelber by his home, about a block from the scorched scene of the Saturday morning suicide.

“Right, that’s what he wanted,” Kaelber added, noting the 60-year-old Buckel “loved” the environment.

One day after Buckel’s disturbing death near park ballfields, Kaelber received visitors at the Prospect Park Southwest apartment the couple shared. Mourners declined to comment, but Buckel’s former colleagues in the legal world and New York’s composting scene said they were stunned by his suicide.

“He put his heart and soul into everything he did in life. He obviously decided to put his heart and soul in the way he died,” said Adam Aronson, who worked with Buckel at Lambda Legal from 2001 to 2006. “There are other ways to fight for what you believe in. I wish this hadn’t been the way that he had chosen to do it.”

Buckel left notes by the burn site detailing exactly what he’d done and why. “My early death by fossil fuel reflects what we are doing to ourselves. Our present grows more desperate,” he wrote.

In retirement, Buckel became a king of compost — a committed activist who believed responsible management of organic waste could build stronger communities. He was a major figure at the Red Hook Community Farm, where he served as an organizer, fund-raiser and volunteer coordinator. Buckel believed in work done by hand and was opposed to the use of equipment that burns fossil fuels.

“Whenever there was an issue, the David that I knew would take action. He was all about inspiring others to join the cause,” said Erik Martig, a composting consultant who worked closely with Buckel between 2001 and 2015.

Buckel never appeared depressed said.

“Total shock,” said Martig, 34. “It just isn’t who he was.”

But others said something in Buckel’s behavior seemed off.

John Ameroso, 73, a farmer at the Red Hook site, said he ran into Buckel in Carroll Gardens on April 8 and thought he seemed unusually distant. He’d heard Buckel was instructing composting staff about his responsibilities, including filling out forms for the city’s Department of Environmental Protection.

“Typical David. Putting all his ducks in order,” Ameroso said.

Flowers and notes were left at the charred scene. Isa Cucinotta, 52, of Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, didn’t know Buckel, but she was compelled to visit the site.

“It’s such a desperate act . . . I’m devastated by what he felt he had to do. I don’t admire the fact that he killed himself,” Cucinotta said. “I just wonder how bad has it gotten. If this guy who has spent his life fighting the good fight has given up?” or hopeless, Martig