• Mill Basin Deck Collapse Tosses Girls Into Jamaica Bay


    by on Jun 2nd, 2010

    A 9-year-old was sent to Kings County Hospital with a bloodied head Monday afternoon, following the collapse of the family’s Mill Basin deck. The girl was in a newly-installed above-ground pool, which weighed around 13,000 pounds, when the rickety deck it was built on gave way. “There was a huge crashing sound,” her 15-year-old sister, Claudine Amsalem, told NBC New York. “And when I looked over, the pool was gone and my sisters and cousin were gone with it.” Another girl in the pool, 4-year-old Henny Needelman, didn’t know how to swim, but was saved by her plastic floaties. A third girl suffered only minor scratches and bruises.

    Neighbors, meanwhile, are blaming the landlord for failing to maintain the deck:

    “I’ve lived here for four years,” said a downstairs neighbor who rents the first floor apartment at 2358 National Drive. “And I never even felt safe walking on the deck. You can tell the boards are old just by looking at it. The landlord really should have maintained the deck.”

    The city appears to agree, and the Department of Buildings cited violations to the landlord. But other neighbors suggest that, though the landlord failed to do his part, the family should have put more thought into where they placed the pool.

    Neighbors who wish to remain anonymous told News 4 that the decks which are supported only by piles and beams were never designed to hold a lot of weight. A 15-by-4 foot pool, once filled, can weigh as much as 13-thousand pounds and much more when people actually climb into it.

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    • dewrock

      Why in the world would someone rent a marine house with deck & ocean dock & all the ocean to swim in. then put a pool on the deck over the ocean. Land lord should boot them right out of the house. real brains

    • jo

      regardless of why they wanted a pool, the deck looks really old in the video. something that weighs 13,000 pounds should not be supported by that ratty, old deck. to me, that's pretty stupid of the parents. if it was them that installed the pool they should get punished, not only the landlord.

      thank goodness for those floaties. i use to hate wearing those things as a kid.

    • winson

      stop blaming the landlords on everything. you tenants should know better. landlords are not your babysitters.

    • bagels

      That family should thank God no one was killed. Blame the landlord?? Are they kidding? What ever happened to common sense? Here comes the lawsuit.

    • http://www.njluxurymotors.com Arthur Borko

      There is enough blame to go around here, I think everyone shares in it. The property owner for not maintaining the property properly, the family for building a pool on a deck that was falling apart, the contractors that built the pool for not making sure in advance that the deck could support the weight.

    • http://www.trustytimeshop.com rolex daytona

      if it was them that installed the pool they should get punished, not only the landlord.

    • I wonder

      Did the renting family seek permission from the landlord to put a pool of ANY size on the deck?

    • FYI

      This family is in the business of causing trouble, were ever they go people can’t wait to get them out. God is settling some score with them, they were evicted twice in same neighborhood 2 years in a row. Just a few weeks back entered the unsuspecting home of a new landlord. But not to worry they probably see this as a blessing.

    • FYI

      This family is in the business of causing trouble, were ever they go people can’t wait to get them out. God is settling some score with them, they were evicted twice in same neighborhood 2 years in a row. Just a few weeks back entered the unsuspecting home of a new landlord. But not to worry they probably see this as a blessing.