East Flatbush toddler fatally falls from window, sparking age-old concerns

By ARIAMA C. LONG Amsterdam News Staff, Report for

America

And

Corps Member

By TANDY LAU

Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps

Member

Yet another small child has fallen from a window in New York City. This time, a four-yearold boy, has tragically fallen out of a building window in East Flatbush. has tragically fallen out of a building window in East Flatbush. This tragic death highlights an ongoing problem with sufficient window guards and child safety.

“Jonathan was a very sweet boy, lovely, intelligent, and willing to learn. He just graduated from Pre-K a couple of days ago. He is the most beau- tiful little boy you could ever meet,” said Pouchinara Severin, a family member who helped organize the GoFundMe page.

Police say they responded to a 911 call last Monday afternoon, where they discovered Pierre with “injuries indicative of a fall from an elevated location.” The child was taken to Kings County Hospital where he was pronounced dead. This time of year, as temperatures rise to unparalleled heights in the city, people are scrambling to keep cool with open windows and air conditioning and are ignorning window safety. Several children have fallen out of windows this year, including a 3-year-old girl in Harlem.

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But Bronx representatives Congressmember Ritchie Torres, Assemblymember Jeffrey Dinowitz, and Councilmember Eric Dinowitz have expressed a need for caution before the go-ahead is given for this project. “While we are heartened to see Van Cortlandt Park recognized as the gem it is, and we appreciate the communication and briefings we have had with the administration,” we have also raised concerns with them about how this proposed temporary 34,000-seat stadium and its construction would impact the park and the community,” the three wrote in an open letter.

While the stadium is being built, locals would be unable to use that section of the park; once it is built and cricket fans come to attend the T20, parking and security upgrades will be needed; and the Van Cortlandt Park parade ground and its underlying infrastructure could be damaged during the construction process—and that damage could extend to the nearby Enslaved African and Kingsbridge Burial Ground, which contains the remains of enslaved Africans who once labored on the Van Cortlandt family plantation.

Shirley Chisholm monument for Prospect Park

A monument to honor Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman ever elected to serve in Congress, is still having its design tweaked before it gains final approval to be constructed in Prospect Park.

During a July 11 meeting at Assemblymember Brian Cunningham’s district office, a mockup of the 32-foot-tall monument, created by artists Amanda Williams and Olalekan B. Jeyifous, was shown. The monument and a new park welcome center with information about the famed politician are set to be a featured gateway into Prospect Park at its Parkside entrance. Bedford-Stuyvesant’s late, great former Congressmember Shirley Chisholm came to political leadership in 1968, she represented New York’s 12th Congressional District. Chisholm’s monument is part of former NYC First Lady Chirlane McCray’s She Built NYC

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