NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — The owner of a construction company in Nassau County was sentenced to six months in jail after a wall he built collapsed on a child in Brooklyn, killing her, District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced Wednesday.
In addition to six months jail time, 48-year-old Nadeem Anwar of Valley Stream will receive five years’ probation. He and his company, City Wide Construction and Renovations, Inc., were identified as defendants, and the company will also pay a fine of $5,000.
The sentencing comes after Anwar and his company were convicted of criminally negligent homicide, first-degree offering a false instrument for filing and second-degree falsifying business records after a bench trial in May.
“This tragedy underscores the critical importance of adhering to the city’s codes and regulations, which are designed help promote the safety of everyone in our city,” Department of Buildings Commissioner Jimmy Oddo said. “The defendant’s disregard for these basic safety requirements led to an unimaginable loss, and today’s sentencing reflects our commitment to holding those who endanger the public accountable.”
According to the investigation, on Aug. 29, 2019, 5-year-old Alysson Pinto-Chaumana was with her mother and several friends visiting a loved one at 444 Harman St., a three-story building in Bushwick, at about 8:30 p.m.
The group was waiting outside on an enclosed patio near the front door, next to a granite wall that faced into the patio.
The granite wall had a base of heavy stone pillars topped with stone horizontal plates, and prosecutors said that the pillars and a plate fell inward onto Alysson, crushing her skull and killing her.
After the death of 5-year-old Alysson Pinto-Chaumana in 2019 and the 2021 death of another child in the Bronx, the DOB began circulating information about the dangers of improperly built property walls. Photo credit Department of Buildings / Brooklyn District Attorney's Office 
After the death of 5-year-old Alysson Pinto-Chaumana in 2019 and the 2021 death of another child in the Bronx, the DOB began circulating information about the dangers of improperly built property walls. Photo credit Department of Buildings / Brooklyn District Attorney's Office Following her death, an investigation found that the contractor who renovated the façade of the property and built the wall in September 2018 had made various violations of the New York City Building Code.
Anwar was licensed in Nassau County but not authorized to file for work permits with the DOB, so prosecutors said he opted to have another contractor file the application for the façade work but not for building the wall. No DOB permit was granted for the building of the wall, nor did a licensed engineer of architect check the wall’s stability post-construction, as required.
A DOB engineer responded after the collapse and found that there was no steel reinforcing bars in any of the pillars, and that there was no engineer-grade adhesive securing any of the wall’s parts, meaning that the wall was highly unstable and held together by its own weight and gravity.
The engineer described the conditions as “imminently perilous to life.”
“This defendant’s egregious failure to follow the most basic safety provisions of the New York City Building Code caused the horrific, brutal and completely avoidable death of little Alysson, leaving her devastated mother heartbroken,” Gonzalez said. “Today’s sentence sends a message that there will be serious consequences for contractors whose sloppy work endangers the public.”
Alysson’s death, and the 2021 death of another child in the Bronx under similar circumstance, led to the beginning of educational public outreach by the DOB regarding the dangers associated with improper construction on property fences.
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