Weekend Storm Leaves Trail of Trees Across City
As New Yorkers settled into a Saturday evening, a cool summer breeze quickly turned into a downpour of wind and rain, resulting in fallen trees and flooded sidewalks. The next day, Sunday June 7, residents reported storm damage across the city
| 08 Jun 2026 | 02:59
Alex Bailey, a user on ‘Nextdoor,’ shared a photo of a fallen tree that had completely toppled over and broken the fence in a park in the West Village. (
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NYC Parks’ forestry crew set out to clean up the damage left from a thunderstorm Saturday, June 6, including parts of trees that had fallen due to strong winds and rain. (Credit: NYC Parks) (
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A large branch blocking a pathway in Thompkin Square Park, damaging one of the benches. (
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A short but strong storm that hit the city June 6 toppled hundreds of trees, leaving huge debris for NYC parks and Sanitation Department to clear up.
The thunderstorm came rolling into the city late in the evening, June 6 with reports of wind gusts up to 65 mph in some areas, estimated rainfalls of up to 2 inches, and even some reports of hail. The next morning, sunny skies revealed fallen trees throughout the city.
As of noon June 8, NYC Parks confirmed to Straus News that they had received over 2,000 reports for damaged or fallen trees, and from those reports 987 referred to trees that had completely toppled over. However, the actual number of trees damaged has not been confirmed yet, as many reports may be duplicates referring to the same fallen tree. NYC Parks is still reviewing incoming reports and sending out crews to deal with the storm damage.
A NYC Parks spokesperson said one of the primary causes of the falling trees is due to root instability.
“Generally, the cause of tree failure during heavy wind and rain events is due to a combination of factors,” an NYC Parks spokesperson told Straus News. “Heavy rain can saturate the soil, causing roots to become destabilized; this, combined with high winds, can cause trees to fall.”
Clean-up for the city began early Sunday morning for NYC Parks, who announced that the thunderstorm had “damaged trees on streets and in parks throughout NYC” and that they were sending out forestry crews, who manage and maintain trees throughout the city, to “address the damage.”
Con Edison, a NYC energy company that provides a majority of electricity to NYC, reported that nearly 14,000 customers across NYC and Westchester lost power as a result of winds knocking trees into overhead electric wires. By June 7, Con Edison reported they only had one outstanding customer in Manhattan who had yet to have service restored, compared to near 4,000 customers without power in Queens.
In Forest Park, Queens, an 85 year-old man was reportedly trapped and killed under a fallen tree during the storm, according to Citizen NYC.
Also in Queens, The Governors Ball, an annual music festival in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, announced they had to adjust their performance schedules due to the Saturday night weather, ending at 7:30 p.m. instead of 10 p.m.
With thunderstorms forecast again for Wednesday, June 10, a NYC Parks spokesperson said forestry crews continue to be “hard at work cleaning up damaged trees and debris from the storm.”