NEW YORK, NY December 02, 2008 —Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer says the city Housing Authority could have prevented the death of a 5-year old boy last August, if only it had installed a device that prevents elevator doors from opening between floors.

STRINGER: This is a $400 part that would have prevented that young boy Jacob Neuman from falling out of the elevator before help arrived. I do not understand for the life of me why this door restrictor is not on every single elevator.

REPORTER: In a report obtained by the New York Times, inspectors for the city's Buildings Department suggest faulty maintenance led to the elevator's malfunction and the child's fall down the shaft in a public housing development in Williamsburg.

The Brooklyn district attorney is investigating. And the Housing Authority has declined comment.