3-year-old boy dies in fall from 4th floor window in Harlem
HARLEM, Manhattan (WABC) -- A 3-year-old boy who was about to celebrate his birthday died after falling out of a fourth-floor window of a Harlem building Friday morning.
It happened just before 10:30 a.m. on West 133rd Street, at the boy's aunt's apartment.
Authorities say Daniel Galeas fell from a rear window of the building, into a stairwell that goes into the basement in the back courtyard.
Galeas was rushed to NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem, where he was pronounced dead.
On Friday night, the Harlem community came together to pray as they remembered the young boy.
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The NYPD is looking a piece of cardboard placed between the air conditioner and the wall, as the boy was apparently jumping on the bed when he fell.
At this point, it is being investigated as an accident.
His grandmother, Maria Rivera, tells Eyewitness News the boy's 4th birthday would have been Monday.
She said the aunt was watching him and other children from the family, including siblings and cousins.
The boy's mother works as a security guard in the Bronx, and she was at her job at the time.
Neighbor Geraldo Busanet ran over to help and said it was excuriating to see.
"I just started crying because I see him breathing," he said. "I just broke down. I got grandkids, you know?"
He says he thought of them and how this tragic accident could have been prevented.
"Especially if you're aware that the A/C got cardboard, and you got the bed right under," he said. "Oh God, it could have been avoided. It just could have been avoided."
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The Clergy Liason for NYPD Community Affairs visited with the grieving family.
"You leave your child with a family member, then you've got to find out that your child isn't here any more," NYPD Chaplain Robert Rice said. "So I'm preparing myself to have the right words to say to this mother."
Police say all the other windows in the apartment had bars on them, but not that bedroom window with the air conditioner unit and broken panels.
Building supers are legally obligated to make sure those air conditioners are properly installed and secured, but it's possible that the panels broke sometime after that.
The investigation is ongoing.
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