Gal slammed by Central Pk. tree sues for $200M
A MANHATTAN mom nearly paralyzed by a falling tree in Central Park while walking with her three young sons charged Monday in a $200 million suit that the city failed to care for the towering elm.
Anne Monoky’s suit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court against the city, the Central Park Conservancy and the companies that maintain the trees says she will have “paralysis-threatening injuries” for the rest of her life.
A 75-foot elm crashed on Monoky last Aug. 15 near Central Park West and W. 62nd St. while she walked with her three boys, ranging in age from 6 weeks to 4 years old.
“This tree had been neglected for years and had clear and obvious signs that it was decayed and could collapse at any moment,” the suit says.
Monoky’s youngest son was strapped to her chest. She “heroically” shielded her boys as best she could from the impact, the suit said.
“We want to make sure these families are protected,” Monoky told ABC’s “Good Morning America” in an interview. “No one should have to go through what we went through.”
Among the examples of arboreal negligence cited in the suit: “overhydration, reduction of root/trunk space and battering it with snowplows and other snow removal apparatus.”
A spokeswoman for the city Law Department said the suit will be reviewed. The park conservancy to comment. declined
Monoky suffered four fractures to her neck. Her 2-year-old son, who was in a stroller at the time, suffered a fractured skull.
But two fractures in Monoky’s neck will never heal, she said, meaning she is at risk of becoming a quadriplegic.
“I can’t fall. I can’t do anything outside,” the former marathon runner, now sporting a neck brace, said.
“The baby, I couldn’t lift him up for months.”
Her lawsuit notes that the tree was located at mile 26 of the New York City Marathon.
“This is a tree that was failing right before their eyes,” lawyer Jordan Merson told “Good Morning America.”
Monoky doesn’t remember much from that day beyond leaving the family’s Manhattan apartment for Central Park.
“She just kept saying, ‘What happened? What happened?’ ” her husband, Curt Goldman, recalled.