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Audit: City Doesn't Pay Attention to Dangerous Trees
By
Jaya Saxena
Published Jul 18, 2010
Modified Jul 18, 2010
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By
Jaya Saxena
Published Jul 18, 2010
Modified Jul 18, 2010
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Just last night, limbs from a Central Park tree fell onto 62nd Street and 5th Avenue. No one was hurt, but it highlights a 2007 audit from the comptroller, which shows that the Parks Department is inattentive when it comes to rotting trees.
Though the trees which killed a middle aged man in February and an infant last month were reportedly healthy, people have been injured by falling branches from rotting trees. The audit shows the Parks Department let over 50 trees linger after they were reported as dead or pest-infested, some of which later fell onto cars. The Department claims the dangerous trees didn't warrant removal upon the first inspection.
Karla Del Gallo, the mother of the 6-month-old baby killed by a falling branch in Central Park, has been in critical condition since the accident. Doctors are beginning to bring her out of sedation, and the family lawyer told the Post, "Up until a day or two ago, [her family] didn't know if it would be a funeral service for one, or for two." She reportedly has yet to be told her child is dead.
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Jaya Saxena
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