NYCHA worker killed by falling tree in East New York
Detectives say the tree came down around 3:30 p.m. Saturday in the parking lot of 700 Euclid Ave. in the Cypress Hills development and pinned the man to the ground. Mayor Zohran Mamdani named the victim as Leighton Brown.
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A 56-year-old NYCHA worker was killed Saturday after a tree fell on him in East New York, according to police.
Detectives say the tree came down around 3:30 p.m. in the parking lot of 700 Euclid Ave. in the Cypress Hills development and pinned Leighton Brown to the ground.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani named the employee as Leighton Brown in an X post late Saturday night.
"Tonight, we are mourning the loss of one of our own after NYCHA employee, Leighton Brown, died while at Cypress Hills Houses in Brooklyn," Mamdani said. "My thoughts are with his entire family as they deal with this unimaginable loss. May he rest in peace, and may his service to our city never be forgotten."
Citizen app video shows first responders rushing to the scene and performing CPR before the Brown was taken to a hospital, where he later died.
Neighbors say it was one of several trees that toppled over in the development during the severe weather.
Longtime Cypress Hills resident Kevin Duran says he knew Mr. Brown and described him as a hardworking and friendly man.
“If I seen him in the morning…I’d stop to talk to him,” Duran said. “He was funny.”
NYCHA told News 12 in a statement, “We are deeply saddened by this tragic loss and extend our heartfelt condolences to his family and the NYCHA community.”
Several neighbors also said trees throughout the development have been marked with X's to indicate they may be scheduled for removal because of safety concerns.
It remains unclear whether the tree that killed the Brown was among those marked.
