Parks says oak that dropped a limb on a hot dog vendor passed a check days earlier
The Upper West Side pin oak showed no defects in an early September inspection, the city says, as citywide tree inspections fell by a third.
An Upper West Side pin oak that shed a heavy limb onto a hot dog vendor on Sept. 11 sits in a park the city had inspected just days before, according to the Parks Department.
The oak is part of a grove in Theodore Roosevelt Park, outside the Museum of Natural History near the corner of Central Park West and 77th Street, where food carts line the sidewalk. A little after 12 p.m., the branch gave way and struck the man running the Nathan’s cart. He was taken to Lenox Hill Hospital after being hit by the tree, an FDNY spokesperson said, but the department gave no details on how badly he was hurt. Other vendors on the block said he is now recovering at home. Authorities have not released his name.
What the Parks Department said about the Upper West Side tree
Inspectors went through the park in early September, a Parks spokesman said, and found no visible defects or other signs that the oak needed a closer look before the limb fell. Had they flagged a problem, he said, forestry staff would have checked the tree and handled it as soon as possible.
The oak falls under Parks jurisdiction, and routine pruning is done either by the department’s forestry crews or by a contractor, the spokesman said. The last trim on this tree came in October 2017, when a contractor pruned it during routine work.
NYC tree inspections dropped by a third
The city is also checking far fewer trees. Parks inspected 59,000 trees in fiscal 2026, which ended June 30, down from 88,000 the year before, a decline of 33%, the spokesman said.
Mahmoud Saber, 51, who sells food nearby, said vendors have no control over it. “A big wind comes and that’s it. You never know,” he said.
Falling branches have led to costly cases before. The parents of an infant girl killed when a limb snapped off a honey locust near the Central Park Zoo won a $13.75 million settlement. The defendants were private tree contractors, the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Central Park Conservancy and the city.
Quick answers
Where did the tree limb fall on the hot dog vendor?
In Theodore Roosevelt Park, outside the Museum of Natural History near Central Park West and 77th Street, on Sept. 11.
How many trees did NYC inspect last year?
About 59,000 in fiscal 2026, down from 88,000 in fiscal 2025, a 33% drop, according to the Parks Department.
When was the tree last pruned?
A contractor last pruned it in October 2017 as part of routine work, the Parks Department said.
