A terrifying situation unfolded in Central Park Friday morning when a massive, 20-foot-long tree branch came crashing down onto a pathway near an Upper East Side entrance.
Photos show the immediate aftermath of the falling tree limb, which came down near the Miners’ Gate, located on Fifth Avenue near East 79th Street, just after 8:00 am, according to an eyewitness who detailed the harrowing ordeal to Upper East Site.
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The Upper East Side resident who wished to remain anonymous said she saw it break and fall while walking in the park this morning and was “so thankful no one was under it” at the time.
By 10:00 am, crews from the Central Park Conservancy had the Miners’ Gate closed off as crews cut apart the massive branch and stuffed pieces into a wood chipper so large it needed its own trailer, the sounds of grinding tree limbs filling the morning air.
Falling trees or branches striking parkgoers is rare but particularly perilous. Two tourists were hit by a falling branch and injured on Green Lawn Playground in 2021.
Four years earlier, a 39-year-old mother and her three young children were injured when an elm tree toppled onto them on West Drive near 62nd Street.
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In 2010, a falling branch killed a six-month-old baby girl and critically injured her mother outside the Central Park Zoo.
NYC Parks asks parkgoers to report damaged trees immediately before they become a significant hazard. Look for cracked tree branches, split tree trunks, and any trees leaning or uprooted. Parkgoers can report them on NYC Parks website by clicking here or through 311.
