Gabriel Siguencia, one of the construction workers killed in the Brooklyn building collapse, was remembered Saturday night as a loving and joyful young man who had been saving to marry the mother of his 3-year-old son.
About 300 people gathered in Corona to honor Siguencia, 22, one of three construction workers and five other victims who died after a three-story Brooklyn building collapsed into an adjoining vacant lot Wednesday afternoon.
“He was a very loving, very cheerful man, just as you see him in the video,” his grieving father, Luis Siguencia, told reporters in Spanish during the memorial at Alianza Ecuatoriana Internacional, a nonprofit organization serving Ecuadorian and other Latin American immigrants.
“He was always smiling. He had so much love to give. He still had so many years ahead of him.”
Siguencia, who lived in the Bronx, legally arrived in the United States from Ecuador less than two years ago. His girlfriend and their young son remain there. He had been working for the construction company for only about a week when he was killed.
“He was working to save money so he could get married, have his child baptized and bring them here because he didn’t want them to endure what I went through when I came to this country,” his devastated father said.
“He didn’t want to leave his son behind or have him grow up alone. That’s why he was working.”
Luis had seen his son just one day before the collapse. He recalled Gabriel affectionately urging him not to work the following day because he was not feeling well.
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“He told me, ‘Dad, take care of yourself. Go home and rest. Don’t work tomorrow — you need to take care of your health,’” Luis recalled.
Gabriel then hugged his father, kissed him on the cheek and asked, “Dad, I love you. Go home and rest. Do you want me to take you? Are you sure you can drive?”
“Yes, son, I’m fine,” Luis remembered replying Tuesday. “Those are the last words I remember from him.”
Siguencia was working at a neighboring construction site at 2625 Bedford Avenue when the building next door suddenly collapsed into a mound of rubble. His family is now demanding answers about why he was working at that location.
“They weren’t supposed to be working on that building. It appears the property had numerous violations, so we’re very confused about why construction was still taking place,” Siguencia’s stepsister, Kayla Chamborazado, previously told The Post.
His father, who also lives in the Bronx, is calling for accountability.
“I want the city and the companies held responsible for my son’s death,” Luis said. “I’m asking for justice for my son and for everyone who was working at that construction site.”
His heartbroken mother, Maria Yupa, said her first request was for the strength to endure the loss.
“First and foremost, I ask God to give me the strength to keep going,” she said.
“I also call on the authorities to make sure justice is served for my son’s death. My son was killed.”