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Storm-Ravaged Central Park Upsets Many
By
Jen Chung
Published Aug 20, 2009
Modified Aug 20, 2009
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By
Jen Chung
Published Aug 20, 2009
Modified Aug 20, 2009
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Tuesday's night sudden storm damaged numerous trees, from the Upper West Side to Central Park and into Harlem and the Bronx. The devastation was especially stark in Central Park, where Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe lamented to the NY Times, "It created more damage than I’ve seen in 30 years of working in the parks."
He added to the Daily News, "It looks like someone opened up with artillery fire, something you'd see in a war zone... Trees are shredded, some snapped in half 30 to 40 feet up; other trees are just completely uprooted...The landscape has changed forever." Even one parkgoer's dog was startled: Jeff Janus said of his dog Harry, "He knew that things were not in their right places. Trees are not supposed to be on the ground, and branches should not be all over the place and he was very, visibly perturbed."
Workers in Central Park were using chain saw to remove hanging branches from damaged trees; one told the Post, "The hangers can fall at any time. That's the real concern. Some are 15 inches wide and 15 feet long. If it fell on someone, they'd be a pancake."
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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