By Adam Nichols
DNAinfo News Editor
CENTRAL PARK — The city is failing to remove deadly trees despite a spate of accidents involving people hit by falling branches, a report claims.
A city comptroller's audit found the Parks Department left 50 dead or pest-infested trees untreated for more than five months in 2006, the New York Post reported.
Other trees were inspected, but left untreated and later fell on cars, the audit claimed.
This year, two people were killed by falling tree limbs — including a baby girl who died in Central Park Zoo last month.
Another three were left with serious brain injuries after being hit by branches in Central Park.
The baby's mother, Karla Del Gallo, 33, from Union City, N.J., has been in a medically induced coma since June 26 when a limb crashed onto her head as she held her daughter.
She still doesn't know her child, six-month-old Gianna Ricciutti, is dead, her family's lawyer told the Post.
Her father, who plans to sue the city, was told last week his wife is likely to survive.
"That's the only relief he's had since this tragedy," said lawyer Dino Mastroprieto, who said funeral arrangements for the baby still haven't been made.
"Up until a day or two ago, they didn't know if it would be a funeral service for one or for two," he said.
Last week, two Queens women said they are suing the city after a branch crashed onto their Memorial Day picnic near the Central Park Boathouse. It left one woman with a broken skull.
This month alone, there have been two other incidents of falling tree limbs in city parks, according to the Post.
Geoffrey Croft, president of watchdog group NYC Park Advocates, said two teenage girls were hit by a branch in the Bronx, and a man received minor injuries after being struck by a branch in Madison Square Park.
On Saturday, police closed sections of Fifth Avenue after limbs fell from a tree at 62nd Street. Noone was hurt.
