Large Branch From Roosevelt Island Tree Comes Crashing Down On Octagon Red Bus Stop - Parent and Two Children Saved From Serious Injury By Top Of Bus Stop - Will RIOC Insure Safety of That Area?

View Larger Map Image of Roosevelt Island Octagon Bus Stop

A Roosevelt Island resident shares this almost tragic experience that occurred at the Octagon Red Bus Stop Wednesday evening during the sudden torrential rain storm.

This evening at approximately 7 pm I was waiting for the Red Bus at the Octagon with my two young children. As we were standing under the bus stop it started raining and a large - about twenty feet long, quite thick - tree branch came crashing down onto the top of the bus stop, coming to rest half on the top of the stop and the rest dangling onto the sidewalk and into the street. Thank goodness for the top of the bus stop or it's quite likely we would have been seriously hurt or killed. As it was we were terrified.

The doorman at the Octagon immediately notified Public Safety and two patrol cars and one RIOC car showed up fairly quickly. However all they did was push the large branch off to the grass by the bus stop and remove the other branches and leaves that fell onto the ground. They took some pictures of the tree and the branch and looked up at the tree for a minute or so. I was so surprised that they didn't rope off the area with caution tape until park service could determine if other branches were unstable. Then they left. The Red Bus continued picking up and dropping off from directly underneath this tree.

I tried to flag down the man in the black RIOC-marked SUV to explain how dangerous it was (white haired man). He looked directly at me waving him down and pointing to the tree and didn't stop. I tried to wave to Public Safety but they stayed by the tree and I wasn't bringing my kids back near that tree.\\

Thankfully no one was hurt but I really think they should have cordoned off the area until someone could take a proper look at this. I wish they had talked to me so I could explain what had really happened.

Thanks to Octagon management for putting up that bus stop - I've never been so grateful.

The Roosevelt Island Daily Public Safety Incident Report describes what happened this way:

Tree Branch - Fell by bus shelter. No injuries or damage. Referred to Grounds.

UPDATE 6 PM - Here is picture of fallen branch 

from this tree adjacent to the Red Bus Stop taken this afternoon.

I spoke with a RIOC employee today at the site who told me that the branch on the right side of the Tree Of Heaven will probably be taken down. According to the National Park Service:

...Tree-of-heaven is a common tree in disturbed urban areas, where it sprouts up just about anywhere, including alleys, sidewalks, parking lots, and streets. For example, the book “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn,” by Betty Smith, is based on the  tree-of-heaven. Away from cities, ailanthus is commonly seen in fields, and along roadsides, fencerows, woodland edges and forest openings. It occurs as seedlings that pop up by the hundreds in recently planted fields and as persistent thickets in rocky, untillable areas. Nationally, ailanthus is recognized to be a serious agricultural pest...