Mike Smeltz

One lawmaker said it's just proof that tougher regulations need to be put in place.

Web Extra: Scaffolding In New York | Active Sidewalk Sheds

Bricks from a 20 story building on the Upper East Side crashed through scaffolding Friday, injuring a 72-year-old man.

"Scaffolding is supposed to be there to protect us from falling debris, now it's actually not stopping items from hitting people," Councilman Ben Kallos said.

Kallos started battling for tougher scaffolding rules after November's accident in SoHo, when a so-called sidewalk shed colapsed, hurting nearly half-a-dozen people.

Kallos said his bill is running into some walls of its own.

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Officials and parents rallied Sunday on the Upper East Side, calling on Mayor Bill de Blasio to open up more pre-kindergarten seats in neighborhood schools.

As WCBS 880’s Mike Smeltz reported, Irina Goldman was planning on placing her 4-year-old into the City’s Pre-K program this upcoming school year. Living at 83rd Street and First Avenue, she was really looking for anything within a 20-minute walk.

But as many parents in the neighborhood are facing, her child was placed in a school six miles away in Lower Manhattan.

“When I found out, honestly, I cried, just out of frustration,” Goldman said.

Upper East Side parent Rob Bates was also hoping he could get his son, Michael, a pre-K seat a program somewhere – really anywhere – in the neighborhood. But Michael, 4, was assigned to a program in Union Square – at least a 30-minute subway ride away.

Bates said the trip was a huge burden for their family.

“The subways are very crowded, and it makes us nervous,” he said. “You know, you have a fragile little child. You don’t want to put him on a crowded subway like that, especially for that length of time.”

In all, more than 900 Upper East Side families with 4-year-olds applied for the Pre-K program. A third of them were given seats outside the neighborhood, creating a logistical nightmare for parents.

Goldman said her family has no clue now if they are going to send their child to pre-K at all.