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Woman Sues After 'Diseased' Central Park Tree Branch Falls on Her

By Katie Honan | September 1, 2017 9:52am

NEW YORK CITY — An Upper East Side woman who was struck and seriously injured by a falling tree branch in Central Park last year has sued the city, claiming the "diseased" tree wasn't properly maintained by staff or officials before it crashed down on her.

Heleyn Frumin, 64, was walking between West 75th and 74th streets in the park on July 18, 2016, when a branch from the tree fell and struck her, according to a lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court Thursday.

The woman "violently" fell to the ground after being struck, causing her serious injury as well as "emotional distress, mental anguish, fear, pain, anxiety, embarrassment and humiliation," the suit says.

The complaint states that tree branch fell due to poor maintenance by employees and alleges negligence on the part the Parks Department and the Central Park Conservancy, which are both named in the suit.

The amount of damages "exceeds the jurisdictional limit of lower courts," the suit adds, and Frumin is demanding a trial by jury.

Just last month, a "decayed" tree fell on a mother and her three children as they walked in Central Park.

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In that incident, the tree's upper branches crashed on the 39-year-old mother as she pushed two children in a stroller with an infant strapped to her chest, officials said.

Frumin's lawyer, Nicholas Dell'Anno, did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment Friday morning. The city's Law Department did not respond to an email seeking comment.

A spokesman for the Central Park Conservancy said the organization does not comment on pending litigation. 

Frumin is the latest to sue the city over damaged trees falling on parkgoers. The city has already doled out more than $10 million in settlements over the past few years due to falling trees.