Councilman Phil Wong and Councilwoman Joann Ariola are demanding Mayor Zohran Mamdani shift his attention to local safety enforcement after four children fell from New York City windows in five months.
Dylan Moquete, who turned 5 in July, was critically injured Monday when he tumbled from his family’s fifth-floor window at 30 Buchanan Place in The Bronx, police sources said. The boy’s mother had left the day before to travel to the Dominican Republic, and he was being watched by his 22-year-old sister while she cooked in the kitchen, believing he was in bed. Dylan crawled out the window around 7 p.m. And landed on the pavement 50 feet below.
“He has multiple fractures,” said a family friend who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “Thank God his vital organs were not affected. The trash that was there… Cushioned his fall. He is out of danger.”
The friend said the boy was able to get out the window because the guard wasn’t installed right. None of the apartment’s windows were compliant with the 50-year-old city law requiring window guards in all windows that aren’t emergency exits in apartments where children under 10 live, a Health Department spokesman said. The windows “were not properly guarded as required because they allowed a space of more than 4.5 inches,” the spokesman said.
Miraculously, all four children survived their falls. During the fiscal year that ended June 30 — which included the first six months of the Mamdani administration — the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development issued at least 5,868 window-guard violations, a 17% drop from the previous fiscal year when HPD reported issuing more than 7,045 violations.
Wong, a Queens Democrat, told The Post the city should do a review to determine if its window guard law is being enforced properly. “Four children falling from windows in just a few months is deeply troubling, and the city should immediately review whether existing window-safety laws are being properly enforced and whether any gaps need to be addressed,” Wong said.
“Instead of fixating on international or national politics and TikTok videos, this administration needs to focus on the basic, everyday issues of governing that may not always be flashy or grab headlines, but matter enormously to New Yorkers,” Wong continued.
Ariola, a Queens Republican, pointed out that the mayor “campaigned on making life better for tenants.” “But instead he’s spent the last eight months yapping about [Israel Prime Minister] Netanyahu and taking credit for things that were put in place before he ever came into office,” Ariola said, adding that Mamdani should stop the “needless political theater.”
A city Health Department spokesman pushed back on the notion of a crisis, saying, “We have not seen an increase in window falls this year compared to the last five year. For over 50 years, New York City’s window guard laws have helped prevent countless falls. Before the law went into effect, hundreds of children fell from windows each year. That number has remained in the single digits for at least the last five years.”
The spokesman’s statement highlighted the dramatic long-term success of the window guard program, which has reduced annual child window falls from hundreds to single digits since its implementation five decades ago.
Mamdani, who took office January 1 after a campaign focused on affordability issues including free child care, free buses, and a rent freeze, has not publicly responded to the council members’ criticisms. The mayor made national headlines during his campaign for his progressive platform and has continued to draw attention for his statements on international affairs and his social media presence.
In the viral moment that preceded this political clash, Dylan Moquete was rushed to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in critical condition after his 50-foot fall, with multiple fractures but no damage to his vital organs. The trash below his window cushioned his impact, and a family friend confirmed he was out of danger. The incident exposed a clear violation of the city’s window guard law, with the Health Department confirming the apartment’s windows allowed gaps exceeding the 4.5-inch maximum and were not properly guarded.
The next City Council stated meeting is scheduled for September 18 at City Hall in Lower Manhattan.