City Councilmen Larry Seabrook (D-District 12) and James Vacca (D-District 13) called this week for a city law that would require landlords and housing companies to secure terrace doors in an effort to guard against children going onto terraces on their own.

The two members of the City Council, both of whom represent constituencies in the northeast Bronx, made their comments after Malachi Johnson plunged to his death last Friday, from the terrace of his 23rd-floor apartment at 140 DeKruif Place.

Councilman Seabrook, whose top aide in his Co-op City has a 3-year-old child, said that this Councilman will be asking the city's Health and Buildings departments to suggest ways to make terraces in the city secure for curious and mischievous children.

In a telephone interview on Monday, Vacca echoed Seabrook's sentiments, saying that he would support legislation that would, in effect, extend the city ordinance on window guards for children up to the age of 10.

One possible way to protect children would be to require that the terraces in apartments with children up to the age of 10 have deadbolt locks.

In contrast to deadbolt locks, terraces in Co-op City have locks that are relatively easy to open, even for younger children.

The child who plunged to his death reportedly fell after climbing up onto a chair and going over the terrace's railing. The child's mother told police that she was in the shower at the time the accident occurred.

The terrace was supposed to have been sealed off five days earlier by an order of the city's Department of Buildings that encompassed 530 of the city's buildings in Co-op City.

The Co-op city buildings covered under the order from the city's Buildings Department included Buildings 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8.

Since the terrace in his Building 8 apartment was supposed to have been sealed off, Hardwick Johnson, the father of the boy who plunged to his death, wants to know how his 4-year-old son could have fallen to his death.

The tragedy at 140 DeKruif Place also raised questions about the responsibility of the boy's mother, Denise Warner.

Ms. Warner was reportedly taking a shower at the time her son opened the terrace door in the apartment and climbed up on a chair on the terrace, before plunging to his death.

State law holds parents and guardians responsible for exercising "reasonable diligence" in the care of children under the age of 17.

Whether Warner had exercised "reasonable diligence" is a subject for debate.

One mother who wished to remain unidentified noted that she often leaves her young child unattended while taking "quick showers" in the morning.

Another unidentified mother, calling herself "super-paranoid," said that her young son stays in the bathroom, with the door open, during her showers when there is no one else in the apartment to look after her son.

"When I'm the only adult around, I like to keep my son as nearby as possible, even when I am showering," the unidentified mother said. "I am paranoid about all the things that can happen with unattended, curious young children, so I usually try to shower when there is someone else around to look after my son."

A makeshift memorial in front of the building where the death occurred emphasized the magnitude of the death that had snuffed out the life of a 4-year-old, rather than lay blame for what had occurred. Included in the memorial was an essay that spoke movingly about the bright future of a young child whose life had ended so prematurely and whose future will never be realized.