After fatal fall, Monk's remains closed

Monk's Cafe, site of a fatal fall by a tenant of an apartment above the restaurant, will be closed at least until Friday, co-owner Fergus "Fergie" Carey said yesterday.

The four-story building that houses the popular watering hole, on 16th Street near Spruce, was shut down Sunday by the city's Department of Licenses and Inspections after a fatal accident early Sunday. Steven Lee, 25, and an unidentified woman fell four stories after a fire-escape railing gave way, police said. Lee was killed in the fall and the woman was left in critical condition.

A structural engineer was sent to inspect the building and bring it back up to code, the Mayor's Office said. Calls made to the man in charge of the building, Bruce Brotman, were not returned yesterday. Messages left with Brotman's company, Spruce Spring Garden Real Estate, were also unreturned.

The Mayor's Office supplied records for five other buildings in his name, which have no violations and are up to date with fire-alarm certification and housing licenses.

The Medical Examiner's Office ruled the death an accident and noted that the cause of death was "blunt cranial cerebral impact injury," said Jeff Moran, a spokesman with the Health Department.

Lee lived in one of the building's 16 units with his girlfriend, who was one of 13 residents evacuated from the property, officials said. The still-unidentified female victim did not live in the building.