Exclusive: Parents of 11-month-old boy killed by steam radiator in Brooklyn apartment push for change
NEW YORK -- Alex and Bessie Kuravsky put their bouncing baby boy to sleep and woke up to an unthinkable tragedy in their Brooklyn apartment.
It's almost impossible to comprehend.
On the morning of January 19th, they found their 11-month-old son, Binyomin Zachariah, unconscious in a room full of steam.
"You couldn't see anything. I had no idea what it was, we thought it was a fire ... We couldn't fathom the idea of a steam radiator doing anything to our apartment," Alex Kuravsky told CBS New York in an exclusive interview.
"He always smiled. He always laughed with such pure excitement, such pure joy. He had the most piercing eyes," said Bessie Kuravsky.
Just after 6 a.m., police said the baby was rushed from his home at 890 East 14th street in Midwood to Maimonides Medical Center, where doctors pronounced the boy dead after many efforts to revive him.
"Literally spend every second that you can with your child. Don't take a second for granted," said Alex Kuravsky.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said the boy died of steam inhalation and thermal burns. The Department of Buildings said there was a problem with the radiator's connection to the valve.
In a similar incident seven years ago in the Bronx, two toddlers, Scylee Vayoh and Ibanez Ambrose, were killed by scalding heat from their radiator, police said. Then-Mayor Bill de Blasio called it an unusual tragedy.
"This was a freak accident, a series of painful coincidences," de Blasio said at the time.
But happened again, which is why the Kuravskys are trying to push elected officials to pass legislation requiring radiator inspections.
"Unless you're Googling horror stories and you're looking at old archives, you're not going to know about this," Alex Kuravsky said.
New York City law requires landlords to hire a company to inspect boilers annually in apartment buildings, but there is no similar law specifically requiring the periodic inspection of radiators.
However, the Department of Buildings said landlords have a legal responsibility to keep their buildings safe and code compliant.
DOB said it conducted an inspection of the building and issued six violations to the landlord's corporation, RPDG LLC, which did not respond to our multiple requests for comment.
A hearing is scheduled for March 27 at the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings. If the judge decides to uphold the violations, the penalties could cost up to $62,500.
DOB also asked the landlord for access to other apartments in the building to inspect those radiators.
Ray Wolfarth, president of Fire & Ice Heating and Cooling, wrote nearly a dozen books about steam heat. He said there are steps worried parents can take.
"You can maybe look at an oxygen depravation alarm that would let people know if the oxygen level drops inside the bedroom," said Wolfarth.
For a family that will never be whole again, the smallest consolation would be an assurance that no one else would have to go through the same agony.
"This is an issue of life or death. And now that the third baby has died, what are we doing about it?" said Alex Kuravsky.
He started an Instagram page, @JusticeforBinyomin, to raise awareness and seek justice for their son.
The family is also holding a rally at Brooklyn Borough Hall on Wednesday at 4 p.m. to push lawmakers to discuss legislative change.
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