A falling tree struck and killed an 85-year-old man walk in Forest Park in Queens as a severe thunderstorm downed hundreds of trees across the city, cops said Sunday.
The man was walking on a footpath in the park when the tree struck him about 6:25 p.m. Saturday, cops said. He died at the scene.
The victim’s name was not immediately released. A Parks Department forestry crew will inspect and remove the tree.
Scores of New Yorkers were enjoying sunny hot weather when the storm moved in suddenly, sending them running for cover.
As of 5 p.m. Sunday, the city Parks Department had received 1,950 service requests for downed or damaged trees, 1,241 of them in Queens.
Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News
Damage from Saturday’s storm is seen inside Forest Park in Queens on Sunday. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News)
The storm’s powerful wind caused flight and subway delays Saturday night.
With fans already in their seats, a hotly anticipated Yankees game against the Red Sox was postponed to Aug. 29 as the storm bore down near Yankee Stadium.
The FDNY made two water rescues during the height of the storm, one of a man in the water at Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier 6, the other of a person whose boat overturned near Beach 116th St. and Beach Channel Drive in the Rockaways. Both were hospitalized, as was a firefighter involved in each rescue.
Ishika Samant/Getty Images
Fans leave the stadium after inclement weather cancelled the game between the Yankees and the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium on Saturday. (Photo by Ishika Samant/Getty Images)
Con Edison was still in the process of restoring service to more than 4,000 customers across the five boroughs, most of them in Queens, Sunday afternoon.
Queens saw gusts of up to 65 mph lasting between five and eight minutes, said Jonathan Porter, the chief meteorologist for AccuWeather.
“It was that area from about Elizabeth and Jersey City (N.J.) out east to Queens and also further east,” Porter said. “Oftentimes, the damage from these types of storms can be focused in particular parts of communities and while other areas we see a severe thunderstorm. The damage was focused here specifically in that corridor.”
Though the powerful gusts came as a surprise to some New Yorkers, Accuweather put out forecasts warning of heavy winds days in advance and the National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm watch Saturday afternoon followed by a severe thunderstorm warning just before 7:30 p.m.
“The best place is to stay inside, away from windows, in an interior room,” Porter said of such severe storms.
