Fatal Elevator Accident: 4-Year-Old Falls 50 Feet Down

4-year-old boy falls 50 feet down service elevator shaft

The most expensive parking garage at Park Slope’s in Brooklyn, New York, was the site of a horrifying tragedy on May 26, after a 4-year-old fell down a service elevator shaft. It’s estimated that the boy fell 50 feet to his death.

The spots in the garage are selling for almost $300,000 and the elevator is seldom used. However, on that day, an attendant was taking the boy and his parent to the third floor of the garage in the elevator. The boy slipped through a gap between the wall and the elevator that was about 10-inches wide.

The garage, which is owned by Howard Pronsky of Berman Reality, has a long, sordid history of bad maintenance and upkeep on its elevator. In 2014, the NYC Department of Buildings was cited for not fixing elevator defects that were found by city inspectors two years prior. A $1,000 fine was paid in Nov. 2014, when the elevator was not up to code.

The parking garage is listed on several real-estate websites as one that is a “safe and convenient indoor facility” that has a “courteous and professional staff of full time attendants is there for you 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.”

Elevators are required to be inspected by New York City code. It is not known if this particular elevator eventually passed inspection.

When you are injured or someone you love is killed because of a defective elevator, you have a right to seek compensation. An experienced premises liability lawyer can explain your legal options for pursuing compensation for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, final expenses and much more.

Source: Park Slope Patch, “Park Slope 4-Year-Old Dies in Horrific Elevator Accident at Luxury Parking Garage,” Simone Wilson, May 27, 2016