WILLIAMSBURG — Hundreds of mourners flooded Hewes Street Thursday afternoon to remember the 5-year-old boy who fell to his death from a balcony as a fun-loving, happy child who is joining his mother in heaven.
Shimon Meisels died after plunging from a fifth-floor balcony at 200 Wallabout St., near Nostrand Avenue, Wednesday about 9 p.m., police said. An investigation is ongoing.
“When a child is not here, what am I going to say?” Shimon's father, Yoel Yakov Meisels, said through sobs as he stood next to his son’s casket. “He was a pure soul. He was always busy learning or reading over salms.”
“It’s a double tragedy,” added the boy’s grandmother, Shmiel Shlomo Spitz. “His mother passed away less than two years ago.”
Outside the family’s Wallabout Street home Thursday, neighbors remembered the boy’s smile lighting up the block.
“He was adorable — a fun-loving, happy, warm child,” said family friend Raizy Lichtenstein. “He was a wonderful child.”
At the funeral, mourners dabbed their eyes with tissues as the cries of Shimon's loved ones echoed over a speaker set up on the street during the 40-minute service.
“You will meet your mother in heaven,” Yakov Meisels said, choking back tears. “Be sure to pray for the family — and the rest of the children. These tragedies should never happen.”
