Family for religious reasons blocks autopsy of man, 81, who died on frigid Brooklyn roof

"The family of an 81-year-old man who died alone on the frigid rooftop of his Brooklyn apartment building has blocked a city medical examiner autopsy for religious reasons, the Daily News has learned. Everet Goldberg was found dead on the roof of the building on Avenue H near New York Ave. in Flatbush at about 9:55 a.m. Saturday. Goldberg used to run a well-known cleaning business that employed many struggling artists, giving many of them a lifeline."

"He would befriend many of them and attend their performances and openings. Artists are "esthetically oriented, detail oriented and fastidious," Goldberg explained to the New York Times in 1998. Cleaning "helps them think," he said. "And they get instant results. If you're a writer, you work a long time to see your book published. But if you clean a bathtub, you see the fruits of your labor instantly.""

"Neighbors believe Goldberg, who lived on the top floor of the six-story building, slipped on the icy roof trying to cross from one side of the building to the other because the elevator on his side wasn't working. He was discovered dead by the building's super 18 hours later. "There was no apparent physical trauma, and so it seems most likely that he fell and died due to the extreme cold temperature," the building's management wrote in a letter to residents."

An 81-year-old Flatbush resident, Everet Goldberg, was found dead on his apartment building's rooftop early Saturday. Family members objected to a city medical examiner autopsy on religious grounds, leaving the official cause of death undetermined. Neighbors suspect Goldberg slipped on the icy roof while trying to cross because the elevator on his side was not working, and the building superintendent discovered him about 18 hours later. Building management reported no apparent physical trauma and suggested death due to extreme cold. Goldberg owned Manhattan Feather Dusters, which employed many artists and creative New Yorkers. His death is not being counted among the city's recent cold-related fatalities.

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