Metro

Hundreds mourn baby boy who fell from window

Hundreds mourned the loss of a Brooklyn baby boy who plunged to his death Wednesday from an unbarred sixth-floor window.

Two-year-old Levi Nemon was remembered by friends, family and members of the tight-knit Hasidic community Thursday at Shomrei Hadas funeral home. The funeral procession moved to Chabad-Lubavitch’s headquarters on Eastern Parkway to pay their respects to the tiny black casket embossed with Hebrew lettering.

The funeral procession for two-year-old Levi Nemon in Crown Heights, Brooklyn on May 22.Stefan Jeremiah

About 300 men and women, standing on opposite sides of the street, shed tears for little Levi as they read prayers from iPhones and prayer books.

Levi’s mother, Sarah, was in the middle of changing another child’s diaper, presumably Levi’s twin sister Simone, Wednesday around 11:30 a.m. She left the room to grab another diaper and came back to see Levi on the ledge of the window.

Levi fell three stories onto a third-floor balcony, the only one with padding in the entire block-long condo complex. Emergency responders could not immediately locate Levi, but eventually noticed his red shirt and diaper.

He was rushed to Kings County Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

“It’s a tragedy for any mother who’s ever looked away from her child for even one second,” said Yettel Zylbernagel, 27, who attended the casket services Thursday and has a four-year-old son of her own.

It is unclear whether any criminal charges will be filed against the building’s management for not adhering to the city’s Window Guard Law, which requires buildings with more than three units to install window guards in apartments where children under 10 live. It is a shared responsibility between the owner and a tenant.

The apartment building where the child fell yesterday.Ben Lifshitz
A responder looks out the window where a child fell yesterday.Ben Lifshitz

In 2013, six children fell, and one died, from windows that should have had window guards in place.

The health department said installing window guards is essential for New Yorkers with young children.

“Children are our most valuable resource. They are curious and imaginative, but cannot foresee the risks of falling from an open, unguarded window,” Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett said in a press release. “That’s why parents and caregivers need to not only make sure window guards are installed, but also keep beds, chairs, ladders and other climbable objects away from windows.”

Zylbernagel has bars on all of her windows except one.

“I’ve seen my kid put his hand out,” she said. “I’m calling my landlord today.”

She was surprised to hear that the higher floors of the Crown Street complex didn’t have bars.

The Administration for Children’s Services is “investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident,” according to spokesman Chris Mckniff.

Nemon’s family are part of the tight-knit Hasidic community in Crown Heights. The block-long apartment complex the family lives in is home to many other young families, but window guards are noticeably lacking from many of the windows.

“We as a community, we as women, we as mothers are giving her our strength together,” Zylbernagel said. “God gives us these souls to take care of and then says, ‘you’re finished taking care of him.’”