Toddler Killed In 6-Story East New York Fall, Officials Say

EAST NEW YORK, NY — A 2-year-old boy died after falling six stories Monday morning from an East New York building plagued with safety violations from the city's building departments, according to police.

Lareese Williams Jr. fell from an apartment building at 760 Eldert Lane and dropped onto the pavement below, near Blake Avenue, just after 11 a.m., police said.

Emergency responders found Lareese lying unconscious and rushed the critically injured little boy to Brookdale Hospital where he later died, according to police.

Lareese's fall baffled his neighbors who mourned the little boy's death.

“I don’t think a 2-year-old could fit through that," said building resident Courtney Harris. "They’re really close together."

"I think the baby ain’t know what was going on," said Michael Rivera, who lives on the same floor. "Baby don’t know what’s going on, what’s happening,"

Michael Thomas, a community advocate whose sister lives in the building, said, "It’s just heartbreaking... My heart and my prayers go out to the family."

Hacelie McFarland, who has lived in the building for more than 20 years, added, "To hear something like this is very hard."

The building where Lareese once lived has an outstanding Department of Buildings violation for failure to maintain the building facade and a "cracked, spalling balcony slab" on multiple floors.

It's also got 113 violations — 14 immediately hazardous — with the Department of Housing Preservation and Development for multiple rodent infestation reports as well as fire damage in a sixth-floor apartment and a defective window guard on the 14th floor, according to HPD records.

The building is part of the Linden Plaza building complex, which City Limits reported in 2015 has seen rents spike since its Mitchell-Lama units were refinanced.

Tenants were told the 2008 refinancing would allow owners — whom city records identify as Linden Plaza Preservation — to improve building conditions, but seven years later residents were still living with mold and other hazardous conditions.

Said tenant association member Angela Jones, “I don’t think our quality of life is better at all.”

No one answered the phone when Patch called the Linden Plaza Preservation for comment.

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect the boy was 2 years old, not 1.