1-year-old boy falls from balcony in Maspeth, Queens, rushed to hospital
MASPETH, Queens (WABC) -- A 1-year-old boy was rushed to the hospital after falling from a balcony in Queens on Tuesday.
Officials say the boy fell from the balcony shortly after 3:30 p.m. at 52nd Avenue and 73rd Street in the Maspeth section.
They say he fell about 10 to 15 feet from a second-floor balcony with a black railing, barely high enough to reach the waist of a Building's Department inspector.
A neighbor across the street who watched the whole thing happen says that baby was trying to see what a group of older kids were doing. They were playing in the driveway.
The neighbor says the boy, who police say was almost 2 years old, reached up and pulled himself up and over the railing, and because he was looking down below, he fell head first into the driveway.
"I just saw the baby on top like climbing. It was already on top. I didn't know how it was able to climb but he was on top," said eyewitness Amelia Marzzenia. "And I think he was trying to look at what the other kids were doing here because they were playing."
She thought the baby was dead.
The boy was found unconscious and in critical condition.
The boy's frantic mother came running out of the house.
"I was praying for him to wake up but she was shaking him, screaming," said eyewitness Zuzanna Marzzenia. "She picked up this little boy and she was like, 'baby wake up, baby wake up,' but you know."
EMS rushed him to New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell, where he was upgraded to stable condition.
Neighbors say the boy was with his 8-year-old brother at the time.
The boy's father, who looked like he had just rushed home from work in a cab, spoke to Eyewitness News, and said his wife is at the hospital and that his son is OK.
Police then escorted him to the hospital to be with his family.
A DOB spokesperson says inspectors did not observe any defects to the balcony or railing.
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