Reported on October 15, 2009

Two months after a record-breaking storm, Central Park officials still dealt with the aftermath of 400 fallen trees that have blocked access to playground and walking paths. Fences cordoned off access to parts of Compost Mount, East Meadow and Great Hill for park visitors because piles of tree blocks were waiting to be ground into chips.

A sign in Central Park West warns visitors to avoid debris from the Aug. 18 storm that damaged several parks throughout the city. Photo: Sonam Hajela

The record-breaking storm that hit Central Park on Aug. 18 made its mark mostly north of 90th Street. It damaged hundreds of the park’s more than 24,000 trees. Since then, about 400 of them have been removed. The felled trees could be seen littering the walkways, playgrounds and open areas, while the Tennis Center, the playgrounds and other park attractions were all temporarily shut down.

Scott Johnson, Director of Communication and Branding at Central Park Conservancy, the nonprofit organization contracted by the New York Parks and Recreation Department to manage Central Park, said the storm was one of the worst the park has ever seen.

“There is no storm on record to have had the same damage,” Johnson said.

The organization brought in 28 crews from seven different tree services and within nine days, had cleared out and contained the debris.

Since then, all the facilities have re-opened, with the last of the playgrounds being reopened two weeks ago. Johnson felt that the organization did its job a little too well.

“We cleaned up in nine days what would have taken months for others,” he said. “People don’t have the concept of what happened…we have signs up telling people what they need to know…it’s hard for me to explain how bad it was without mementos laying on the ground.”

A pile of broken tree limbs line a walkway in Central Park. Piles of wreckage like this from a summer storm are still scattered throughout the park. Photo: Sonam Hajela

However, Elena Elmoznino, a mother who said she visits the playground on 100th Street with her young son four to five times a week, remembered the aftermath of the storm.

“All the trees were toppled, the tree house had two trees in it and they had to be cut down, the spider net that used to be there is gone,” Elmoznino said.

Another visitor to the park, Gillian Ellis, remembered that walking her dog was difficult in the days following the storm.

“I had to walk him over big trees,” Ellis said. “I thought it would take them over a month to clean up.”

In November, two or three tub grinders will start grinding all the wood piles down to 1-inch chips. Right now, the park is under quarantine by the United States Department of Agriculture because of the Asian Longhorn beetle that destroys Elm trees and so, none of the wood can taken elsewhere at the moment.

So far, $1.5 million has been raised of the $3 million that is needed to restore the park.

“The park is a personal thing for so many people,” Johnson said. “The next day after the storm, people were out in the park and were horrified. We had 500 people donate within two weeks and 30 percent of the donations came from new members.”

Although Johnson said the storm was the worst the Conservancy had seen in 30 years, he was still grateful.

“If this had happened in the South Park, it would have been potentially very different,” he said. “We were pleased and very lucky it was in the North park. This is an opportunity to have new underbrush, flower beds and smaller areas to change and evolve. We’re looking forward to it; we’re in a forward momentum now.”