{"id":12158,"date":"2025-10-22T16:16:25","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T16:16:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/12158\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T16:16:25","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T16:16:25","slug":"brooklyn-nursing-home-cited-repeatedly-before-fatal-attack-on-89-year-old-resident-brooklyn-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/12158\/","title":{"rendered":"Brooklyn nursing home cited repeatedly before fatal attack on 89-year-old resident \u2022 Brooklyn Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

When an 89-year-old Holocaust survivor was fatally assaulted<\/a> inside her room at Seagate Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, the horror sent shockwaves through Brooklyn\u2019s elder care community. Yet, according to those who have long fought against nursing home neglect, the tragedy was not unforeseeable \u2014 it was a warning long ignored.<\/p>\n

On the night of Sept. 14, police responded to a 911 call reporting an assault inside the Coney Island<\/a> facility. The NYPD said Nina Kravtsov was discovered with \u201chead trauma\u201d and was pronounced dead at NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn. Police later identified the suspect as 95-year-old Galina Smirnova, who prosecutors say bludgeoned Kravtsov with a detached metal leg from a wheelchair.<\/p>\n

Smirnova has since been charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon, though her competency to stand trial is now under judicial review.\n<\/p>\n

\u2018They closed their eyes\u2019<\/p>\n

Attorney Randy Zelin, who represents the Kravtsov family, said Seagate Rehabilitation and Nursing Center bears direct responsibility: \u201cThe responsibility that the nursing home completely ignored to keep [Kravtsov] safe, secure and free from being beaten to death by another resident of the facility.<\/p>\n

He told Brooklyn Paper that understaffing and negligence were major contributors to the incident.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cTo even call it a contribution would be like calling a superstorm \u2018standing rain showers,\u2019\u201d Zelin asserted. \u201cIt is part and parcel of Seagate\u2019s abject closing of its eyes to its legal and moral responsibility to care for its patients and residents.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NinaKravtsov pictured with her daughter, Lucy, in 2024 at Seagate Rehabilitation and Nursing Center.Photo courtesy of Randy Zelin<\/p>\n

Medicare Care Compare<\/a>, a free database that allows users to find and compare health care providers, gave Seagate Rehabilitation and Nursing Center a \u201cmuch below average\u201d staffing rating, with residents receiving just 18 minutes of registered nurse care per day \u2014 less than half the national and state average of about 41 minutes.<\/p>\n

The nursing home, owned by Excelsior Care Group, operates 360 beds and holds an overall \u201caverage\u201d Medicare rating, but inspection records tell a different story.\n<\/p>\n

Since 2021, state inspectors have cited Seagate<\/a>\u00a0for multiple deficiencies, including staffing shortages, poor dementia care planning, unsafe conditions and inaccurate documentation.<\/p>\n

A 2024 inspection found the facility \u201cfailed to maintain sufficient nursing staff\u201d to meet residents\u2019 \u201cphysical, mental and psychosocial needs.\u201d Inspectors noted that some units operated with as few as three certified nursing assistants instead of the five required, leading to missed medications, delayed care and a \u201cdistinct smell of urine\u201d on units.<\/p>\n

\"Seagate\"Since 2022, Seagate Rehabilitation and Nursing Center has received multiple citations for understaffing, neglect and failure to report incidents.Photo courtesy of Google Maps<\/p>\n

Facility leaders acknowledged recruitment challenges but said efforts were underway to improve staffing. Kravtsov\u2019s death occurred during a weekend shift, when inspectors had previously noted particularly low coverage.<\/p>\n

Zelin argued that systemic negligence allowed Smirnova, a newly admitted resident with dementia, to go unsupervised.\n<\/p>\n

In a September 2022 inspection, the state cited Seagate for \u201cfailing to provide appropriate, person-centered care for a resident with dementia.\u201d One resident was repeatedly observed crying out for their mother in Russian without individualized interventions or an updated care plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe should never have been put in a room with a roommate,\u201d Zelin said. \u201cSomeone who is brand new to a facility in unfamiliar surroundings \u2014 that is a trigger for someone suffering from dementia.\u201d<\/p>\n

He described the fatal assault as a \u201cneon sign\u201d of neglect.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven the fact that the defendant has enough time to take apart the wheelchair to get the leg peg and beat Nina to death without anyone hearing, it says \u2018we not only don\u2019t care, but we don\u2019t even care enough to have enough people on staff to care.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ninaKravtsov (pictured) is at the center of a fight for justice led by her family and legal team.Photo courtesy of Randy Zelin<\/p>\n

During the same September 2022 inspection, Seagate was also cited for \u201cfailing to properly investigate and report possible abuse or neglect\u201d involving several residents.<\/p>\n

Inspectors found that staff failed to conduct a thorough investigation after one resident was found on the floor and later diagnosed with a fractured femur, and a resident-to-resident incident was reported to the state more than 24 hours late, violating the federal two-hour reporting rule.<\/p>\n

Seagate submitted a corrective plan, audited all recent accident investigations and introduced staff retraining on abuse reporting. The deficiencies were officially corrected in November 2022.\n<\/p>\n

A national pattern of neglect<\/p>\n

Attorney Michael Brevda, of the Senior Justice Law Firm \u2014 national practice focused exclusively on elder abuse and neglect litigation \u2014 and said the tragedy fits a \u201cdevastating\u201d national pattern.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving done nothing but these cases for 15 years, I don\u2019t find this shocking,\u201d Brevda told Brooklyn Paper. \u201cThese kinds of problems continue to pop up because of chronic and systemic understaffing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lawyer, who has investigated nursing home neglect cases across the country, said facilities like Seagate often prioritize profit over safety.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you cut the night shift in half, you make millions of dollars, and the residents are far less safe,\u201d he said. \u201cA chandelier or a grand piano is not going to keep them safe. It\u2019s staff \u2014 it\u2019s human beings that keep them safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that most victims\u2019 families aren\u2019t looking for payouts, but accountability.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of the families that seek our representation have hit an absolute dead end in trying to seek justice and accountability,\u201d Brevda said. \u201cThey call the State Department of Health, and that\u2019s a dead end. Maybe [nursing homes] get a $500 fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat means nothing to these places,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s the cost of business.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

A call for reform<\/p>\n

For Zelin, justice for Kravtsov\u2019s family means more than a courtroom victory \u2014 it means reform.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there was going to be a \u2018Nina\u2019s Law,\u2019 I think its essence should be to care,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you are undertaking the responsibility of caring for people who are no longer in a position to care for themselves, then my God, do it like you mean it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a woman can survive the Holocaust, she should be able to live in a facility like Seagate,\u201d he added. \u201cThe fact that she survived and was killed at 89 years old in Seagate\u2026 it\u2019s mind-bending.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seagate Rehabilitation and Nursing Home did not respond to multiple requests for comment.\n<\/p>\n

In a statement to Brooklyn Paper, a spokesperson for the New York State Department of Health said Kravtsov\u2019s death is the \u201csubject of an open investigation\u201d and declined to comment on it, but added that the department \u201ctakes the safety and well-being of nursing home residents extremely seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHolding nursing homes and their operators accountable for the quality of care they provide is a top priority, and we remain aggressive in assessing the maximum fines permissible by law in every instance,\u201d the statement read. \u201cPer federal and State Public Health Law, nursing homes are responsible for protecting residents\u2019 rights \u2014 including freedom from maltreatment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Scarcella-Spanton\"State Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton told Brooklyn Paper that her office was looking into legislation to hold nursing homes like Seagate responsible.File photo by Paul Frangipane<\/p>\n

The incident has also drawn concern from local politicians.<\/p>\n

In a statement, state Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton called Kravtsov\u2019s death a \u201cheartbreaking and preventable\u201d tragedy. She added that \u201call older adults living in and receiving care in our state\u2019s nursing homes deserve quality care, and that level of care is only possible with adequate staffing and security protocols.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scarcella-Spanton urged the state Department of Health to \u201cdo everything in its power to promote an increase of accountability at these sites,\u201d and said her office is exploring legislation to support that effort, though she did not specify details.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When an 89-year-old Holocaust survivor was fatally assaulted inside her room at Seagate Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12159,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,9626,9627,9628,9629,9630,9631,9632,9,24,9633,9634,9635,9636,9637,9638,63,9639],"class_list":["post-12158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-brooklyn-nursing-home","tag-coney-island-nursing-home","tag-dementia-care","tag-elder-care","tag-excelsior-care-group","tag-holocaust-survivor-killed","tag-medicare-ratings","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-department-of-health","tag-nursing-home-abuse","tag-nursing-home-neglect","tag-nursing-home-reform","tag-nursing-home-safety","tag-nursing-home-understaffing","tag-nyc","tag-seagate-rehabilitation-and-nursing-center"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12158\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}