6-Year-Old Girl Injured After Section of Brick Veneer Falls From Maspeth Building

A 6-year-old girl sustained a head injury and a broken leg requiring surgery after a section of brick veneer detached from the exterior wall of a garage building and fell onto the sidewalk below at 59th Street between Maspeth Avenue and 56th Drive in the Maspeth neighborhood of Queens on Thursday evening, October 23, around 7:35 p.m. The fallen section measured approximately four feet by three feet. According to a family friend who spoke to CBS News New York, the girl's father worked at a nearby construction site and the child had walked over to visit him when the bricks fell. A neighbor said they heard her screaming and called for help. She was taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition, though her mother said she would need surgery on her broken leg. The New York City Department of Buildings issued a violation to the property owner for failure to maintain the building's structure. The incident occurred during a period of heightened citywide concern about the condition of older building facades and the risks posed by falling debris on public sidewalks.