Wednesday, May 17, 2023

Parkgoer escapes injury after a branch falls in the Tompkins Square Park dog run

Photos by Steven 

Parkgoers are buzzing about a tree limb that fell early last evening in the Tompkins Square Park dog run.

According to several witnesses, the branch struck and knocked over a young woman believed to be in her teens who was inside the dog run. 

Bystanders rushed to her aid and were relieved to see she was OK. (One witness said that she was screaming, though apparently about the bugs she encountered in the fall.)
This morning, a concerned parkgoer told us: "I have been asking [the Parks Department] for years to prune the trees in the dog run. Look at the rest of the trees in the park, then look at the trees in the run, which hundreds of people sit under every day. This happened last night ... with no wind or storms."

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lots of dog urine can impact trees

Exotique Men said...

That's certainly a close call

Andrea M. said...

I was standing on the north side of the dog run and looking that way when it came down. Absolute miracle no one was seriously hurt. The sound alone was something. No wind, beautiful day, just came down like a ton of bricks. Glad to know the screams were just about bugs!

Anonymous said...

The sky is literally falling, figuratively speaking.

Anonymous said...

No one blamed the government yet?

Anonymous said...

@7:36 glad you mentioned sound. Being in the construction business. The old timers love wood compared to steel or concrete, because with wood there is always a sound before wood breaks (creaking noise) but for steel and concrete it just breaks no warning sound.
So glad no one or dog was hurt.

Anonymous said...

Don't leave us hanging... What "bugs"?

Anonymous said...

Wow this is terrifying. Hopefully a crew is in the park checking all of the trees and limbs ASAP. Miracle this wasn’t a Saturday or there might be multiple dead dogs and potentially people

Anonymous said...

I was there but didn't hear a thing (although I'm a philosopher).

Anonymous said...

Wow thank God this woman is ok.

Unknown said...

Glad no one was seriously hurt, but also curious about the bugs.

Anonymous said...

Hello Philosopher- Tompkins Square Park is not considered a forest.

Anonymous said...

I was on E side of the run, we heard the crack just as the branch began to fall- wind was picking up quite a bit (temp drop Tues PM). I’m a nurse and tried to encourage her to get evaluated- she was stunned until she realized a spider was on her and she screamed.
I’m sure it smarted and she’s likely concussed. SOOO lucky it didn’t kill a dog or person.

Anonymous said...

If the parks department was in there last week pruning these trees, other folks would me on here complaining that they were pruning perfectly nice trees.

Anonymous said...

Yes! My dad taught us that when we were kids standing over him building and repairing. Wood will warn you when something's gone wrong and gravity proves itself!!

Anonymous said...

Steven's photographs are always a pleasure.

JJ said...

I gotta say I'm pretty upset the parks authority did not address the issue before now. The park and many of the trees along sidewalks are completely overgrown and are an accident waiting to happen.