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Tree Branch Falls In Central Park, Three Injured


By

Jen Chung

Published May 31, 2010

Modified May 31, 2010


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A fallen tree branch in Central Park

 

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By

Jen Chung

Published May 31, 2010

Modified May 31, 2010


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Just after 12:30 p.m., there were reports of a tree branch falling in Central Park, injuring three people, near 74th Street and the East Drive (which is also near the Boathouse). Philip Bump tells us that the victims appeared to be a family picnicking and that he "only saw one woman underneath, quickly had dozens of people around her. She didn't seem to be moving - in ambulance now."

He also posted on his blog:

We heard a muffled tearing sound, maybe two seconds long. Dozens of people started running over to where the tree branch fell. It was probably two feet in diameter where it broke off, a huge leafy mess at the end where the family was picnicking.

When I got there, a dozen guys were pulling the branch away, several people were attending to a woman lying on her back underneath. Near the road, a child was wailing, a few adults trying to calm him or her.

Heard at least three people calling it in to 911, who got there within three minutes or so. About five minutes after that, the area was cordoned off and an ambulance left at 72nd Street for Lenox Hill Hospital.

Last July, a man was critically hurt with brain and spinal injuries after a Central Park tree branch hit him near West Drive and 63rd Street; the branch was reportedly rotten. And this past February, a man was killed by a falling tree branch at East 69th and Fifth Avenue in Central Park; this branch was reportedly healthy.

Tagged

boathouse

central park

fallen tree

injuries

tree

tree branch


Jen Chung

Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.

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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations


Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations


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