{"id":358359,"date":"2026-09-27T22:00:51","date_gmt":"2026-09-27T22:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/358359\/"},"modified":"2026-09-27T22:00:51","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T22:00:51","slug":"nycha-handyman-killed-by-storm-known-as-mr-fix-it-died-working-overtime-how-teary-locals-recognized-body","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/358359\/","title":{"rendered":"NYCHA handyman killed by storm known as \u2018Mr. Fix-it,\u2019 died working overtime \u2014 how teary locals recognized body"},"content":{"rendered":"

The tragic NYCHA handyman killed by a falling tree in Brooklyn<\/a> was known as \u201cMr. Fix-it\u201d and working overtime when he died in his brown rain boots, which tearful residents recognized his body by.<\/p>\n

Devoted public-housing maintenance man Leighton Brown, 56, generously helped scores of tenants in the Cypress Hills Houses over more than a decade on the job, residents said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was wonderful. All the tenants of Mr. Brown, he was just like, Mr. Fix-it,\u201d said Robin Howard, 67.<\/p>\n

FDNY working the scene after a tree fell on maintenance man Leighton Brown. James Alcivar<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if he was on lunch, you could approach him and say, \u2018Wow, such and such is wrong in my apartment.\u2019 And he was like, \u2018OK, I\u2019m on lunch, but give me a few minutes and I\u2019ll run by and see what I can do.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody, everybody says he\u2019s the best person that they ever had out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tenant Kevin Duran said his friend Brown recently came by to change a shower head and told him a secret.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said, \u2018Kev, don\u2019t tell anybody yet because I haven\u2019t talked to all my people here,\u2019\u201d Duran said.<\/p>\n

Leighton Brown was known as \u201cMr Fix-It\u201d in and was working overtime. Kevin Duran<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said, \u2018I just got my transfer approved and I just got my promotion. This is my last week here.\u2019 That\u2019s what he said to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The good-natured jack-of-all-trades continued working Saturday even as a devastating nor\u2019easter descended with winds that knocked down several trees in the development \u2014 including the one that killed him.<\/p>\n

A resident who identified herself as \u201cMs. Henry\u201d told The Post on Sunday that she saw Brown that morning working overtime outside his regular shift and wearing his knee-high brown rain boots amid the appalling weather.<\/p>\n

An area inside the Cypress Hills Houses housing project is shown in Brooklyn, N.Y., near where NYCHA worker Leighton Brown was killed by a fallen tree. Gregory P. Mango for NY Post<\/p>\n

Brown was struck and killed by a tree that fell during rainstorms that hit New York City. Gregory P. Mango for NY Post<\/p>\n

Henry said that when she heard a tree fell on someone, she rushed downstairs and \u2014 to her horror \u2014 spotted Brown\u2019s boots on the mortally wounded man being rushed off by emergency workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I see him in the ambulance, and I looked at the boots, I already knew that it was [Brown].\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a well-known man because he worked in every-f\u2014ing-body\u2019s apartment that\u2019s on this side of the development. Everybody knew Mr. Brown.\u201d<\/p>\n

A second fallen tree is seen in Cypress Hills Park in Brooklyn, N.Y., as this tree is located on the opposite side of the park where Cypress Hills Houses NYCHA worker Leighton Brown was killed by a falling tree during the nor\u2019easter. Gregory P. Mango for NY Post<\/p>\n

An area inside the Cypress Hills Houses housing project is seen near 700 Euclid Avenue in Brooklyn, New York. Gregory P. Mango for NY Post<\/p>\n

At least three other trees fell in the NYCHA development, where crews worked to clear them Sunday and tenants grappled with the loss of their \u201cMr. Brown.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown had family back in the island of Jamaica and a son in Connecticut, who was expected to arrive Monday, residents said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The tragic NYCHA handyman killed by a falling tree in Brooklyn was known as \u201cMr. Fix-it\u201d and working…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":358360,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,57,9,24,63,305,274,58],"class_list":["post-358359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-nycha","tag-storms","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358359","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=358359"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358359\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/358360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=358359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=358359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}