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4-Year-Old Boy Dies After Falling 50 Feet Down Elevator Shaft in Park Slope

By  William Mathis Aidan Gardiner and Nikhita Venugopal | May 26, 2016 8:41am | Updated on May 26, 2016 4:07pm

 Four-year-old Jack Roberts died after falling 50 feet down an elevator shaft in a Park Slope parking garage Wednesday night.
Four-year-old Jack Roberts died after falling 50 feet down an elevator shaft in a Park Slope parking garage Wednesday night.
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DNAinfo/William Mathis

PARK SLOPE — A 4-year-old boy died after falling 50 feet down an elevator shaft of a parking garage near the Park Slope Food Coop on Wednesday night, officials said.

Little Jack Roberts was with his parents in an elevator at 841 Union St., near Seventh Avenue, about 8 p.m. when he fell through a gap between the elevator car and shaft wall, according to police and the Department of Buildings.

Staff at the garage Thursday morning declined to comment.

Jack was taken to Methodist Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries, police said.

Jack's aunt Kathy, who declined to provide her last name, told The New York Times it was "a horrible, tragic accident."

Alice Soriano, who said she was the boy's nanny, broke down in tears as she left a bouquet of flowers in front of the garage.

"He's an angel. Everybody knew him," she told Telemundo.

Soriano said she had watched him since he was two months old. "He's like my family already," she said. "He was a good boy."

The Department of Buildings slapped the garage with a cease use order on the elevator on Wednesday until further review, they said.

The elevator was only supposed to be used for cars, not for the public, officials said.