Con Ed to the Rescue

Winds whipped through the Upper West Side of Riverside Park in Manhattan leaving tree carnage blanketing car hoods, electricity polls, old stone walls and historic brownstones. On Wednesday evening, a friend and I went scouting for a place to dine when we came across a swath of broken limbs and uprooted trees taped off from pedestrian traffic along the walkway. Old Oaks, Maple and Dogwood split and cracked like toothpicks from 100 mph winds that morning. From about 105th to the Soldiers and Sailors Monument a powerful thunderstorm and what I suspect might have been a rare super cell phenomenon ravaged the area. Cars like this shiny new Beamer lay merciless under the weight of an ancient trunk. Brooklyn, the Bronx and the Metropolitan area were hit just as bad. About 150 workers cleared away an estimated 150 trees and 230 tree limbs with heavy equipment. My friend and I surveyed the incredible damage with astonishment and disbelief.