Monday, September 12, was the day a tree that was threatening to “do something” for years, made a dramatic statement. Neighbors flocked to the site on the Greenway at the upward slope to Bosworth Street, adjacent to Brompton Avenue, where at around 3:35 pm, a large tree limb broke away from its trunk and fell on several parked cars on either side of Brompton.
The Greenway runs from Brompton to Burnside Avenue below Bosworth Street. The stretch between Brompton and Lippard is designated as a Native Meadow, where many varieties of native grasses have been planted.
Firefighters were on scene within minutes, clearing the scene of large debris and then closing the one-way street to through traffic.
It could have been a disaster but luckily no one was hurt. A resident who lives nearby, Scott Walker, was driving home from work.
“I had just turned north onto Brompton from Bosworth when I heard what sounded like rocks or loose gravel bouncing off the bottom of my car,” he said— “sort of like when you’re traveling down an unpaved country road— as I slowly made my way down the slope to the transition adjacent to the Greenway. I didn’t pay much attention to the peculiar noise at first but moments later I heard a kind of crash. I was windows-up in my car, though. Bewildered, I looked through each window as I continued down the road before, finally, in my rear view mirror I saw the fallen tree encompassing the entirety of the frame. I realized the loose gravel sound I thought I heard was actually the tree ripping apart. It missed my car by just a few feet but, unfortunately, there were roughly four other vehicles parked on either side of the street that were not so lucky.”
Gary Mendez, whose house is immediately adjacent to the Greenway, also didn’t think anything of the noise at first. “About 3:30 I heard a loud, almost rumbling sound, like a bunch of rocks being thrown into demolition bins. I thought something massive had fallen at the construction site across the street. I was working and my wife was going out to get her coffee. She looked out the window and yelled ‘Oh my gosh’! That’s when we came out and saw it.”
Other bystanders felt a gust of wind before the limb fell, on a day that had been notably still.
A longtime resident of Chenery Street said that several years ago he noticed one of three large limbs leaning down towards the sidewalk. He saw that it was cracking and called someone in the city. Several months went by and the limb came crashing down. Then the city came and cut off the limb, leaving a stump about a foot long. They didn’t treat the rotten part of the tree that caused the limb to fall, claimed the resident.
A worker on scene of today’s incident said that only the fallen limb would be removed, not the entire tree, but that remains to be confirmed. The Glen Park News will continue to follow up.
