By Carla Zanoni
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
INWOOD — A strong storm that broke Manhattan's oppressive heat Thursday night also swiftly felled a nearly 80-year-old tree on an Inwood residential street, snapping the concrete sidewalk beneath it and whipping tree branches and debris along the block.
"It was 30 seconds of sheer insanity," photographer and Inwood resident Bruce Katz said of the fierce gust of wind tearing through West 217th Street, between Park Terrace East and West. "I was so glad it didn't last longer than that because it would have taken down every tree on the block."
Katz said he watched the storm pass by his window as it swept branches and debris sideways outside his fourth story apartment before taking down the tree.
"It went down like a matchstick. This is as close to a tornado as you can get without it actually being one," he said of the storm that many in the neighborhood termed a "micro blast" of wind.
Dave Thom, owner of 537 W. 217th St., where the Northern Catalpa tree once stood, said he was relieved the damage was minimal and that nobody had been hurt.
"The tree didn't even touch a flower," he said, pointing to the toppled trunk that arced over his hedges and driveway as he trimmed branches from his driveway after 9 p.m. Thursday evening.
Thom said the Northern Catalpa was one of the last remaining trees planted back in 1934 when the unusual row of Tudor homes that line the block were built on West 217th Street. It was then known as Park Terrace North.
Parks Department officials said the department is responsible for the tree removal and sidewalk repair and were on the scene by 11 a.m. Friday, clearing debris.
