Man Injured By Tree Limb Files Suit Against City

Until you get hit in the head with a tree! I did yesterday...scary as Heaven .....

Clear cut the park! Rid the city of trees! Gravity too!

When was the last time they check the gravity levels in the park?

I hope he wins. The city is at fault for not caring for the trees.

I have been saying for years the rot and mildew on half the city trees are a danger.

There will be tons of branches down in Sheepshead bay with the snow and ice.

I still remember the Rikers Island C.O. that was killed years ago when a tree fell on the highway in Queens. 15-20 years ago our trees were rotting from the inside-out and nothing has changed just gotten worse with infestation a disease.

Bloomie is too busy to save trees and lives.

Oh wait, is there a way the public can pay for this? He hasn't figured that one out yet.

Every single person posting here would sue if they were him. 100% of you. The system demands it. Suits benefit the powerful because they put the pressure on the weak to fund legal action. Who knows what the truth is? What if the tree was inspected 12 weeks before and the city and conservancy knew about the danger. How aren't they responsible if that happened?

Everyone would sue and see what the courts say or what settlement is offered. Then you would take the money and run.

He sued for $120 million. Greed.

And will he get it, no. Don't be naive. Idiot.

He's a brilliant guy, and now is in the midst of not only strenuous recovery, but a massive lifestyle change. That means medical care, physical changes to his home (possibly leaving the city - he was born and raised here; I doubt you can say the same) loss of income, loss of spousal income, etc.

Please, do the math and post back with what much do you think they should sue for. Take into account similar case history, starting point $$, negotiation, legal fees, taxes, inflation, income growth with a career at Google, and so forth.

Don't talk out of your ass and equate it to greed. This isn't a $$ hunt for them,

Wow.

Reasonable people may disagree over whether this guy's legal claim has merit. Fair enough.

On the other hand, I really feel bad for all the commenters talking shit about this guy because of, e.g., that fact that he looks like he lives in W'burg.

The poor guy suffered severe neurological injuries through no fault of his own, and you fuckers call him greedy for suing? Are you fuckin psychopaths? Are your lives that fuckin miserable?

And you dumbasses know that it's the common law that determines the merit of a suit, right? Meaning, if the case was 100% bullshit, he and his lawyer can actually get sanctioned by the court.



Every single day you have the power to call your representatives and tell them that you want tort reform. Because, this may come as a shock, but all the legislature has to do is pass a law and they can ban whole categories of lawsuits if they wished.

But nah, that'd be hard. It's easier to sit on one's fat ass and talk shit about lawyers and "the system" and make bitch comments about an accident victim and his baby daughter to prop-up your fragile egos.

Stunnedbycruelty is spot-on. Whatever happened to "if you have nothing nice to say, say nothing?"

Hipster-bashing is a popular sport here on Gothamist. Even if somebody just looks like a hipster, they consider him fair game. Envy at work.

Sorry, but that windstorm back in the summer--the one that wiped out 100s of trees and endangered 100s of others--demonstrates how the city and the park conservancy really cannot keep track of the thousands of trees there, rotted or not. If this suit gets any traction, you can expect to see a lot of trees removed and chippers doing their thing at full volume 24/7 all summer long.

Wow. I'm so impressed by the deep nobility and civic pride displayed by commenters who would of course NEVER EVER sue should a heavy rotted tree limb fall on their heads in Central Park, crippling them for life and racking up millions of dollars in short and long term health care costs. Go check your own health care policies and see what the lifetime maximum claim amount is...

As for you Robot? Get to a dictionary a look up the difference between snark and cruelty. Then think about it on a nice long walk through Central Park.

Looks like money DOES grow on trees...

I'm sad that this guy is still in the hospital. It sounds like he is going to be bedridden for life.

We almost lost a local lab worker to a similar work accident here in upstate NY (big piece of metal fell on him). It's very shocking when a once vital guy is hospitalized for a year and will never be able to dress himself again, let alone work.

it'll get tossed on a 'force majeure.'

Force majeure is used in contract law. There's no contract between the city and Blair-Goldensohn. This is tort law. The defense would be act of God. But that may not hold up in this case.

I would just like to reiterate: fuck all lawyers Wall Street ho-bags, and cops. peace out.

i bet you this williamsburger said the exact same thing until A TREE BRANCH BEAT HIM DOWN.

so much hate for lawyers in these here parts, but damn, you'll be the first one in line to call one when you or a loved one gets into an accident with a drunk driver, gets mowed down by a city garbage truck, or slips and breaks a hip at wal-mart. it's not like the city can undo the damage done by the branch, so the system only provides for monetary compensation. i'm sure the google-douche would rather be happy and healthy, eating his granola and feeding his daughter some organic smoothie crap. instead, his brain is mushy.

He works for google, their benefits are extremely generous. It's unfortunate that the branch fell on him but I hope the case is thrown out. The guy isn't even out of the hospital and he's suing already

I didn't see a dollar amount. A million for medical expenses is one thing. Tens of millions for "pain and suffering" is another.

He's been hospitalized for the past five months. No telling how much longer before he gets out and no details about his cognitive condition have been revealed. In all that time, he hasn't been able to work to support his family. Considering how much Google engineers make, especially one in Manhattan, he may stand to lose at least several million dollars of income through the rest of his life if he never recovers enough to do his old job. Take a look at some of his past work. That's way over my head and likely over pretty much everyone commenting on Gothamist. If he can't think at that level anymore, he'll lose a ton of income.

Don't forget punitive damages.

This is really disgusting. It's too bad the tree didn't finish him off!

Robot,

That's fucked up.

- LB

Riiiiiiight, it's not like he has long term medical issues as a result of this.

Obviously, he and his family should go penniless instead of suing...

Hint: Sometimes you go to court because you have to.

Would you feel the same way if the tree was on your property and he was suing you?

And sometimes you lose. It's called "life."

Always looking to blame someone.

I agree, this is a moronic suit, and as an attorney I would be embarrassed to take this case. There are like 25,000 trees in Central Park. Good luck to the plaintiff's lawyer proving that the conservancy could have known the condition of each and every one of those trees. I hope that the plaintiff's lawyer obtains no more than a "nuisance" settlement.

There is clearly a case to be made. They don't have to prove that the CPC has to have tabs on every tree in the park, just that they should have had tabs on the one that was hopelessly rotted and shed a 100lb limb.

It's reasonable to assume that the Parks Dept. targets resources on older or more "at-risk" trees that are directly over actively used pathways. The city clearly has a budget for this work, and for compensation when they are negligent.

My guess is that the city will settle out of court for an undisclosed amount, and the case will not be thrown out.

(By the way, which fancy "attorney" school taught you to use the word "like" as a modifier anyway? Valley Girl State? )

The city should cut down every tree in Central Park! They are obviously posing a hazard to every innocent, hard-working citizen in New York. Nature cannot be trusted!

I'm pleased to see his greedbone has made a full recovery.

I'm really hoping that this lawsuit is actually just a response to a lack of medical insurance. I'm not sure which is more sad, suing for greed or suing to keep from drowning in medical debt.

I recall that he works for Google, so he likely has a fair amount of health insurance coverage. Long-term care may not be included, though.

Is it just me or does this guy have "WILLIAMSBURG" written all over his face?

Why is he stuffing that super sized drink down the kid's throat. She appears to be a bit on the chunky side to begin with.

It's just you.

And that's not super-sized. It's a medium.

My thoughts exactly. They are probably trying to find a way to pay for all those medical bills that have been racking up. Even a settlement would probably be a lot of help. Good luck getting that, because they are just no grounds for this. Case will likely be dismissed.

It's plain silly to believe that the city knows (or ought to know) the condition of every tree branch in New York City.

Besides, life involves risk.

He should name god and mother nature as co-defendants.

Shhh! Don't encourage him.

I agree. Mother nature does a lot of bad things. Did the bitch loose her insurance coverage?