As a family and community mourned the loss of a 12-year-old in a horrifying accident, the real estate company that operates the parking lot at Lott Avenue where the child was killed on Sunday revealed it would remove the automatic rolldown gate. A spokesperson for the real estate management company said, "We extend our deepest sympathy and condolences to the family."
Yakim Daniels had been playing chicken on the gate with friends. The gate would rise and descend when cars would enter and leave the lot, via sensors. At one point, when the gate was going up, Yakim got caught. One witness said, "The little boy just was hanging down from the waist, up to the neck was wrapped up in that. And they had to try to cut the gate down to get him out."
City Council Member Charles Barron criticized Omni New York, which owns the Plaza Residences building complex where Yakim lived, for not having enough recreational options for children. Barron said, "We let them know that a tragedy could happen if they didn’t have more recreation for the children... [Kids] wouldn’t have been playing on this [gate] if they had a basketball court or some other kind of facility. This kid should be alive."
Residents said a basketball court used to be where the parking lot currently stands and that the real estate management company had been called to fix the gate, after the kids' horseplay would damage it.
Omni New York said it would pay for Yakim's funeral. And one of the Omni owners is former Met Mo Vaughn.
