4-year-old boy critical after falling out fifth-floor window in Brooklyn
FLATBUSH, Brooklyn (WABC) -- A 4-year-old boy is recovering from surgery on Wednesday morning after falling from a fifth-floor window in Brooklyn.
It happened just before 9 p.m. Tuesday at a six-story building on 131 E. 21st Street in Flatbush.
The child was playing with the side panels of an air conditioning unit when he pushed on it and fell out of the window, police said.
He was taken to Maimonides Medical Center in critical but stable condition where his parents remain by his bedside.
Officials say the boy climbed out of his crib and pushed away items blocking the air conditioning unit to access it. Both parents were home at the time.
Residents of the building say it's a "miracle" he survived the 50-foot fall onto the concrete.
"They were horrified, the mother was breaking down and the father just looked like he was in shock," neighbor Trena Taylor said.
Taylor said the boy's parents are "really great parents" and are devoted to their three boys.
"When I tell you these people love these kids, I see them every day, every morning taking them to school," Taylor said.
Falls remain a big danger for New York City kids.
Before the mid-'70s when the city began requiring landlords to install window guards in apartments with kids 10 and under, falls easily topped 100 a year. Officials say last year there were nine window falls and two were fatal.
So far this year, there have been eight cases of window falls, according to the city health department.
Child safety experts say windows without guards should not be opened more than four inches and installing window stops are a cheap and easy fix -- but be sure to use quick-release for fire safety.
Also keep climbable furniture away from windows and remember that screens and air conditioner panels are not designed to support leaning children.
Neither parent is being charged and the incident is being investigated as an accident.
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