Wednesday at approximately 3:30 p.m. on Berkeley Place, a London Plain tree fell on a red car that was parked on the street.
A friend, who was walking down the street with her daughter just as the tree was falling, said that it made an alarmingly loud boom.
The tree, like many trees on the block, had been leaning dangerously for a long time. The NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, which has jurisdiction over all trees growing in the public right of way including trees along streets, had been notified about the problem by block residents.
The incident occurred in the middle of Berkeley Place between Seventh and Sixth Avenues, the site of a lively block party this past weekend.
The trees on Berkeley Place were planted 20 years ago. When they were young trees, an ice storm caused damage to many of them, which may explain why the trees lean into the street the way they do. But the trees survived and add a beautiful, if dangerous, leafy canopy over the block.
Luckily no one was hurt on Wednesday. It would have been a real disaster had someone been in the car or if the tree had fallen on a passerby.
The fallen tree has been removed from the block. The red car is still in its parking place. The owner has not yet returned to see his destroyed vehicle.
photo by Wendy Ponte
sorry to hear about the fallen tree. It will be quite a shock when that car owner returns. I hope he doesn’t have to get anywhere quickly. Enjoyed your piece about teens, and there world. Of course, you really have no idea where they really are even when you call them on their cell phones ( we’ve all seen that movie too). It must feel strange to have a teenage son- Although I feel like being adolescent was a long time ago, I still can’t imagine having my child view me as an ‘old fogey” or something. The” boy” is a teriffic person, and you should feel proud.