Tree Branch Injures Two Kids, ages 9 and 8, In Bronx Playground

First responders at the scene. The large tree limb suddendly came down on two Bronx boys as they were filling up water balloons in a playground in Bronx River Park.

Bronx

Two young boys playfully filling water balloons in Bronx River Park on Monday were suddenly clobbered by a falling tree branch — one so hard his “head caved in” cops and family said, according to the New York Daily News.  

Jhostin and Edward Reyes, ages 9 and 8, were hanging out near a park playground in the park at E. 180th St. and Boston Road in West Farms when there was a resounding crack and the boys were walloped by the plummeting limb around 3:30 p.m., police and witnesses said. 

The boys were dazed and bloody as emergency workers arrived. 

 “(Jhostin's) head caved in. It hit him that hard,” said the boy's uncle Roberto Hernandez, 18. 

The children were taken to Jacobi Medical Center, both conscious and alert, cops said. Family said Jhostin, whose leg was also broken, was in intensive care with an apparent skull fracture.  

Police said both boys were in stable condition.


The two boys being treated at the scene by the fire department.

“He was crying and kept saying, ‘Why’d this happen to me? Why’d this happen to me?” Zulanlly Luna, 23, the boys’ aunt said of Jhostin.  Edward suffered bumps and bruises from the foot-thick oak branch, which was at least 10 feet long, police sources said.

“That should’ve been a wakeup call to check the other trees,” said Luna, who remained near the scene of the injury as parks workers closed off the area around where the branch fell.

Several precarious boughs hung near the playground in the park on Monday, leaving parents wondering if the incident would repeat itself on another day when such a thing could happen again. 

 “That’s dangerous. Any one of our kids coulda got hurt,” said Takasha Ross, 25, of Parkchester, who had come to the park with her kids, ages 1 and 6. “At least trim the old branches.”  

The FDNY and Parks Department were on scene removing the branch late Monday in a closed-off portion of the park.  

“Parks is investigating the tree and has closed the playground pending the results,” a parks spokesman said in a statement.

(Photo: Sam Costanza/For New York Daily News)

The fallen tree limb the struck two kids.  (Photo: Sam Costanza/For New York Daily News)


 (Photo: Sam Costanza/For New York Daily News)

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Boys, 8 and 9, injured in Bronx park after tree branch falls on them,

with one child's 'head caving in'

New York Daily News - July 20, 2015 

Dead Woman Found Floating In Bronx River

(Photo: Michael Schwartz for New York News)

A dead woman was found floating in the Bronx River alongside Bronx River Park early Saturday morning.

Bronx

The nude body of a woman was found floating in the Bronx River early Saturday, not far from a park that runs along the shoreline, police said, according to the New York Daily News.

The grisly discovery was made shortly after 9 a.m. when a local resident spotted the corpse floating in the murky waters near the Bronx River Park in Williamsbridge.

Police have yet to indentify the victim, whom they described as black and in her 20s or 30s. The medical examiner will conduct an autopsy to determine how she died.

One local resident who was among the first people to see the body said it was spotted across the river from a paved path that leads down to a line of small trees at the water's edge. The resident said there was blood on the path.

Dozens of people turned out to watch as police and officials from the city medical examiner's office fished the body out of the river about 1 p.m. and investigated the crime scene.

Detectives appealed to the crowd for any information that may help them as they investigate.

The part of the park that is close to where the body was found is parallel to Bronx Blvd., near E. 226th St.

There are two bocce courts in that part of the park, and neighbors said the area is a hangout where young people smoke pot and party.

Some neighbors expressed concern about a pervert who has recently been exposing himself to women in the area, particularly pregnant women.

One woman, who declined to give her name, said the man actually touched her stomach and asked if she was pregnant.

A man who lives in the area described the wooded, riverside park as "relatively safe," but said he still warns female relatives to avoid the park after dark.

"If you're out here late at night, you should know better," he said, declining to give his name.

Police ask anyone with information to call the Crime Stoppers tipline at 800-577-TIPS. All calls are confidential.

Read More:

Nude body of woman found floating in Bronx River early Saturday

New York Daily News - July 3o, 2011 - By Alex Christodulides and Bob Kappstatter

Two Teens Drown In Bronx River Park

(Photo: Harbus for NY Daily News)

David Luccioni, 17, died after jumping into a restricted area of the Bronx River to save drowning teen Crystal Reyes. The popular swimming hole is legally off-limits to swimmers but there is no security presents to enforce the safety rules. Signs, and a metal gate installed a few years ago do little to prevent the access to the site.  A lack of uniform parks department enforcement presents ensures that people wanting to swim have unfettered access to the site.  New York City ranks dead last in the provision of public swimming pools for a high density city. 

Bronx 

A popular but off-limits swimming hole near the Bronx Zoo became a deathtrap Sunday for two teenagers trying to cool off from the sweltering heat, officials said, according to the New York Daily News.

David Luccioni, 17, and Crystal Reyes, 15, both of the Bronx, drowned when she was pulled under the deceptively calm water of the Bronx River at River Park and he tried to rescue her, fire officials and family said.

"Mi niña! Mi niña!" Crystal's mother screamed before collapsing at St. Barnabas Hospital after learning that her daughter, who had run away from home on Friday, was dead.

Friends said Crystal did not know how to swim.

The tragedy unfolded as the city baked on the third straight day of 90-plus degree heat, prompting the teenagers go for a dip in the forbidden waterway just steps from the Bronx Zoo's Asia Gate.

"What we did, you may call it dumb. Some may call it normal, but what happened was a big accident. Everything just went out of control," said Alex Merly, 18, of the Bronx, among the friends who went swimming and witnessed the tragedy.

FDNY Battalion Chief Pat Murphy said both victims were wearing shorts and T-shirts and were found in an area of the river 10 to 15 feet deep. He said David was wearing construction boots when firefighters fished him out.

The youngsters were swimming with a group of friends in an area near a rocky river dam that is accessible only by jumping a wrought-iron fence marked by city Parks Department signs reading, "Danger No Swimming."

Witnesses said there were at least 20 people, including children as young as 5, swimming in the restricted area near E. 180th St. and Boston Road when the two teens went missing. Friends of the victims said David, who was at the river with his twin brother, Matthew, dived in to rescue Crystal, who went under after losing her footing on the slippery rocks.

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Bronx teen David Luccioni died while trying to save Crystal Reyes, 15, from drowning in Bronx River

New York Daily News - July 19, 2010 - By Virginia Breen, Oren Yaniv And Bill Hutchinson